Barnsley residents face council tax rise of 3.9 per cent

Residents in a Band D property will pay an extra £64 per year, bringing their annual council tax bill to £1,705.57.

The increase will raise around £4m for the council to run essential services, and is below the five per cent maximum authorities can hike council tax by each year.

The increase is made up of a 1.9 per cent increase in council tax, plus a two per cent increase in the precept to pay for adult social care.

The council is also set to use £5.5m of its reserves to ‘further mitigate the pressures’ in areas such as social care, energy costs, school transport and waste services.

Neil Copley, BMBC’s director of finance states in the budget report: “Throughout 22/23 we have seen the demand [and cost] for council servicessignificantly increase, particularly in children’s social care, but also in adult social care, home to school transport and waste services.

“In my view some of those pressures are likely to get worse before they begin to level out

“There have been significant increases in the demand for all council services during 22/23, those been particularly acute in children and adult social careservices.

“The average cost of electricity supplied to the council has increased by 110 per cent and gas at around 280 per cent.

“The well-publicised inflation and supply chain issues relating to energy, fuel, food, and construction costs will continue to put pressure on the cost of council services during 23/24.

“The longer-term outlook for Local Government funding is clearly challenging.”

Councillor Sir Steve Houghton CBE, leader of Barnsley Council said: “The budget proposals invest money directly into the frontline, helping us to deliver essential services to our communities.

“It’s a budget full of opportunities and long-term possibilities for local people through more jobs, better housing, and improved access to education and skills, helping to grow ambition in our young people.

"We want to do this alongside striving to look after people and families who need help, recycle more of our waste, and repair our roads. We’re working on how to do all this more sustainably as we work towards reducing our carbon emissions to net zero.”