£5 council tax increase set to be given the green light

The £5 annual rise in district council tax for Band D properties is the maximum increase allowed this year by central Government without a public referendum taking place.

South Staffordshire Council’s cabinet backed the proposal at its meeting on Tuesday as part of its 2020/21 budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) covering the years up to 2024/25.

The proposals were previously considered at a cabinet meeting in January before going out to a public consultation, which ended on February 10.

But there were no responses put forward, Tuesday’s meeting heard

James Howse, corporate director for resource, told the meeting: “There have been no significant changes and no changes to the report since the consultation.

“The council’s General Fund balance is forecast to remain above minimum levels up to 2024/25 and the council budget is now balanced for a five-year period, which represents a significant improvement to the financial security from the previous MTFS, which balanced it for three years.”

But a report to the cabinet meeting said: “The future of the system of local government finance remains uncertain. The Government has committed to re-assess the baseline need for spend in each local authority.

“This was due to take place in 2019 but has been pushed back to 2020. This could have a significant impact on the Government’s calculation of the Settlement Funding Assessment for – and therefore the amount of funding available to – this council. This would impact from 2021/22 and remains a strategic risk for the council.”

The budget for 2020/21 and MTFS are set to be formally ratified by the full council at a meeting on Tuesday.