Lewes District Council agrees annual budget with one per cent tax rise for households

The increase, which equates to an extra £2.02 on a Band D property’s annual bill, came as part of the 2023/24 budget signed off at a full council meeting on Monday (February 20).

The budget — the last to come before next May’s local elections — was introduced by the Green Party’s Cllr Zoe Nicholson, cabinet member for finance and deputy leader of the council’s cross-party administration.

Cllr Nicholson said: “We are seeing councils across the country have to max out their council tax to three and five per cent. In fact our own county council has had to do the same thing, forcing local people to pay even more at a time when they can least afford it.

“We’ve been able to only increase council tax by one per cent, because of the good strong financial management of our teams. It is absolutely essential to do this, because it enables us to achieve a balanced budget.”

But the council’s opposition Conservative group argued the administration should go further by freezing council tax at current levels and making up the lost income by “postponing” plans to move the council’s waste fleet from diesel to Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO).

Conservatives said the move would save around £174,000, more than covering the £85,000 to be lost in 2023/24 by not increasing council tax.

Introducing these proposals, Conservative councillor Julian Peterson said: “ It has been a hard year for everyone. So we believe that it shows that we recognise the fairness of not having an increase. We believe this could be achieved by postponing the investment in renewable fuel, as an electric fleet of vehicles will be bought soon or in the near future.”

While not part of their amendment, Conservatives took issue with other parts of the budget, including plans to increase the rents on council-owned garages. They also criticised the administration’s wider record, including its plans to lease the council’s offices in Southover House to the arts charity Charleston, arguing an alternative use (such as council housing) would be a better use of the building.

Ultimately, the Conservative amendment was voted down, after coming in for criticism from the council’s other political groups.

Liberal Democrat council leader James MacCleary took issue with the call to delay the move to HVO. He said: “They may be relatively small interventions, but they are ones we can do right now and they are critically important to the future of me, my family and this entire planet. So, no we can’t wait, they have to be done now.”

Following further debate, the budget was passed without amendments. It includes plans to introduce a new 100 per cent council tax premium on second homes. A similar premium will be added to homes that have been empty for longer than one year. This currently applies only to homes that have been empty for more than two years.

Other authorities are set to increase council tax by the maximum amount allowed. This includes a 4.99 per cent increase in East Sussex County Council’s share, which equates to an increase of £80.51 for a Band D bill.