Council tax bill rise for Wealden residents is backed

On Wednesday (February 9), Wealden District Council’s cabinet discussed their budget proposals for the 2022/23 financial year, which are set to go to a full council vote later this month. 

The proposals include a 2.53 per cent increase in Wealden’s share of council tax, which equates to an extra £5 per year for a Band D household.

The proposed increase comes after  Wealden froze its council tax last year, which the authority said was intended to soften the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Conservative council leader Bob Standley said: “We have a reputation for good sense financial management and I have to say when you look at some of our neighbouring councils we are in a much stronger position. 

“It doesn’t happen by accident, it happens by hard work. Nothing happens by accident. The fact some of our neighbours are getting into a pickle is because they’ve actually not made some of the hard decisions we have had to make over the years.”

He added: “We know the cost of living is going up and we want to keep council tax increases as low as possible.

“But we also need to make sure that we deliver to our residents, because a lot of our residents are the vulnerable we need to protect.”

Other proposals include plans to increase both staff pay and members’ allowances by 2.5 per cent. These had also been frozen last year. 

No new savings have been identified, however.

Cabinet members also backed proposals to increase council house rents in line with central government policy. This increase will be set at the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus one per cent, equal to a 4.1 per cent increase this year. 

Further increases at the same rate (CPI plus one per cent) are expected to come in future years as well. 

While a significant increase, cabinet member for housing Raymond Cade said the council’s housing remained more affordable than alternatives, particularly the private rented sector.

Cllr Cade said: “In my view this clearly demonstrates the contribution this council makes in providing households on low incomes a decent place to live.”

When put out for consultation late last year, the budget proposals showed the council was expected to run a surplus of around £196,000 in 2022/23. 

After receiving the final settlement from the government, however, the council now expects to run a surplus of £80,000, which will be paid into reserves. 

While the council expects to run a surplus this year, it expects to be in deficit in the following four years.  As a result, money would need to be drawn from the council’s general reserves, even if the authority agreed year-on-year council tax increases.

Despite money being drawn from reserves —  currently expected to total almost £1.3m between 2023/24 and 2026/27 — the council would have general reserves of more than £3m by the end of its current Medium Term Financial Strategy.