Maximum Increase for East Riding Council Tax

A 4.99 per cent hike in council tax has been approved for the East Riding after councillors backed budget plans for the coming financial year.

Council tax and budget proposals passed yesterday include funding for 20mph speed limit pilot schemes, free books for children, more gritting and grass verge reinstatement.

East Riding Council’s Conservative Finance Portfolio Cllr Nigel Wilkinson said the tax hike was needed to help keep the council viable and sustainable amid financial challenges.

Cllr Denis Healy, leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition, said the budget was a lifeboat on the choppy waters of Government cuts to council funding and growing financial gaps.

It comes as councillors also backed a 7.7 per cent increase for council housing rents and a 50p-an-hour hike for car parking charges.

Car parks which are currently free will remain so.

The council’s full meeting heard the 2024-5 financial year requires a total of about £403m to be spend to keep the council and its services operating.

But councillors also heard £11.6m would have to be taken from the authority’s reserves to balance the books.

That includes £10m from reserves for the Jock’s Lodge road improvement scheme.

Despite that and £8.3m planned in savings including a shake up in the council’s administrative workforce, a deficit of £6.2m is still forecast for 2027-8.

The budget passed by the council includes £80,000 to fund trial schemes for 20mph speed limits in a bid to improve safety for children.

The council’s ‘Imagination Library’, where all children receive personalised books every month from birth to age five is being funded with £500,000 to improve literacy.

The Do It For East Yorkshire fund is being topped up with £500,000 to support community projects while £50,000 has been put towards a flood warden scheme.

The Positive Activity Grant, money which goes towards helping young people, has received £40,000.

Increasing gritting on rural roads and in residential streets will be funded with £225,000, while £100,000 has been set aside to reinstate grass verges.

A programme of free swimming for young people has also been extended into the Easter holidays.

The budget was backed by all councillors bar two who abstained.

The meeting heard it was drawn up with input from across the council’s political groups.

Finance portfolio holder Cllr Wilkinson said it was an investment in people, places, skills and jobs with residents at its heart.

But he added the council continues to face rising costs and demand for services including adult and children’s social care, inflation and global events, posing financial risks.

The portfolio holder said:

“We don’t operate in isolation, there have been major events outside of our control.

“It’s perhaps an understatement to say that 2023 has been a challenging year, many councils around the country have struggled and the East Riding is not immune.

“The increase in council tax is carefully considered, we need to ensure financial resilience and viability.”

Opposition leader Cllr Healy said once the council’s reserves were gone they were gone and the council’s financial plans exposed the depth of its position.

Cllr Healy said:

“Strong isn’t an adjective I’d use to describe the council’s financial position, officers have been able to balance the budget but with a sticking plaster they’ve found in the cupboard.

“Concessions have been made to opposition groups, including on the Do It For East Yorkshire fund which  provides more money and puts ward councillors in charge of shaping worthwhile community projects in their wards.

“But the central government has been starving local authorities of resources, the impact of Conservative cuts elsewhere has been to tear services to shreds.”

How much council tax bills are going up by in 2024-5:

Note: the figures below exclude precepts levied by Humberside Police, Humberside Fire and Rescue Service and town and parish councils.

•     Band A: total charge- £1,188.11, yearly increase- £56.47, monthly increase- £4.71, weekly increase- £1.08
•     Band B: total charge- £1,386.13, yearly increase- £65.88, monthly increase- £5.49, weekly increase- £1.26
•     Band C: total charge- £1,584.15, yearly increase- £75.29, monthly increase- £6.27, weekly increase- £1.44
•     Band D: total charge- £1,782.17, yearly increase- £84.70, monthly increase- £7.06, weekly increase- £1.62
•     Band E: total charge- £2,178.21, yearly increase- £103.52, monthly increase- £8.63, weekly increase- £1.99
•     Band F: total charge- £2,574.25, yearly increase- £122.34, monthly increase- £10.20, weekly increase- £2.35
•     Band G: total charge- £2,970.28, yearly increase- £141.17, monthly increase- £11.76, weekly increase- £2.71
•     Band H: total charge- £3,564.34, yearly increase- £56.47, monthly increase- £14.12, weekly increase- £3.25