Lancaster City Council agrees average Council Tax rise of £5
Lancaster City Council is set to increase its portion of Council Tax by an average of £5 a year.
Lancaster City Council is set to increase its portion of Council Tax by an average of £5 a year.
After the exclusion of the parish precept, the city council’s portion is just 12% of the total Council Tax bill, with the remainder going to Lancashire County Council (73%), the Lancashire Police Authority (11%) and the Lancashire Combined Fire Authority (4%).
These other authorities will be setting their own increases in due course. The Government has predicted the council’s funding levels on the basis that it makes this increase.
The rise, which was agreed last Wednesday (January 27), aims to support existing council services for residents and businesses as the district starts to recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic the council has provided an extensive network of support.
This includes working closely with Morecambe Bay Foodbank, Eggcup, and other food groups to make sure no one goes hungry, and the Community Hub continues to be a central point for residents needing help.
Support has also been provided to businesses with 8,700 payments being made, totalling £43.3million, to help them cope with the effects of Covid-19, and 18,000 line of enquiries have been responded to since March last year.
The small rise in Council Tax will also help to fund other council priorities, including its response to tackling the climate emergency and improving the local economy.
Councillor Anne Whitehead, cabinet member with responsibility for finance, said: “We are acutely aware of the additional burden that this rise will place on some households and we do not want to have to ask households to pay more.
“But as with all public services, the city council is under pressure financially and needs to protect the vital services it provides, particularly those which are doing so much to support the community during the pandemic and beyond.
“For those households that are struggling to pay their Council Tax we have a range of support on offer. This includes our localised council tax support scheme which provides up to 100% support to households on low incomes.”
Lancaster City Council is one of the few remaining councils in the country to maintain a Council Tax Support Scheme which provides up to 100% support to households on low incomes.
Other options for residents struggling to pay their Council Tax include revised instalment plans and deferred payments, where appropriate.
The £5 rise is for those in a Band D property. As 80% of the district's homes are in the lowest bands (A to C) the actual increase will be even lower than £5 for the majority of households.
While as the billing authority Lancaster City Council collects Council Tax, it only receives around 12% of the total bill to spend on its services which include the collection of waste and recycling, parks and open spaces, street cleaning and environmental health.
Any residents that need help or advice as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic can find more information about the support which is on offer by visiting council’s website at Lancaster.gov.uk/coronavirus or calling the Community Hub on 01524 582000.
Last updated: 02 February 2021