Rotherham Council Tax rise set to plug £24m funding gap

A Council Tax rise in Rotherham is aimed at plugging a £24 million funding shortfall.
Rotherham residents are facing a Council Tax increaseRotherham residents are facing a Council Tax increase
Rotherham residents are facing a Council Tax increase

Investment in children’s services has been prioritised by the council, with an additional £10 million committed to improving child safeguarding services.

Residents will see a three per cent rise under the Government’s Adult Social Care precept on their bill - introduced to help local authorities meet the rising cost and demand for adult care services.

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This will raise an additional £2.7 million towards the expected £62 million cost of adult care services next year.

Combined with a 1.99 per cent increase in basic Council Tax, this overall 4.99 per cent rise in the bill will mean a weekly increase of 85p for most of Rotherham’s households.

Councillor Chris Read, Leader of Rotherham Council, said: “Because most of what the council spends is funded by government grant, the unprecedented and ongoing reductions in this government funding, plus the rising cost of providing services, continue to mean that difficult decisions have to be taken.

“The council is clear that we will direct our resources where they are needed most, and over the last two years we have been listening hard to residents about where our priorities should be and what needs to change.

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“It’s right that in Rotherham, as we move beyond the tragedy of the past towards a brighter future, we commit an additional £10 million towards continuing to improve child safeguarding.

“We will recruit more permanent social workers, and better equip them for the challenges that they face. We will recruit more foster carers, and we will support more families to keep children out of care.

“Any Council Tax increase is regrettable, but the reality is that we need to meet the rising cost of delivering care to Rotherham’s ageing population and the government has left us – like nearly every other council in the country – with no choice but to secure the funding in this way.”