Council tax rise of 3.9 per cent approved by cabinet

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.

BMBC’s 2023/24 budget proposal states that the council has had to raise the council tax , due to austerity measures, and “the impact of the 10 years of significant reductions in Government funding that followed”.

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.

Councillor Sir Steve Houghton, leader of BMBC, told the cabinet meeting: “It’s an incredibly difficult time to have to do that, with inflation currently running around 10, 11 per cent.

“With service demand, particularly in children’s and adult’s services rising exponentially, compared to previous years, so that’s got to be funded and taken care of.”

Coun Houghton added that he understands the council tax rise to be one of the lowest in the region, if not nationally.

Councillor James Higginbottom added that the budget is “positive” for Barnsley, “not withstanding the enormous financial challenges we’ve been under, both this year in terms of the cost of living crisis that we, along with our residents and businesses are experiencing, but also in the context of 13 years of Conservative misrule and austerity that has cut our budget, in effect, over a billion pounds.

“We are presenting a budget that is based on investment, it’s based on our priorities for growing the borough, for the continued regeneration of the borough,” he added.

The budget will see investment of £17.5m in frontline services, particularly in social care.

A £7m investment is also proposed for new schemes to improve housing, schools, and roads.

A further £2 million has been earmarked to address potholes and maintain the borough’s roads and highways.

The proposals will be presented to full council for final approval on February 23.