Council Tax bills set to be freezed by Mid Suffolk District Council

Budget proposals for Mid Suffolk District Council published today (Friday, January 27) include a Council Tax freeze for residents, despite rising costs and increased demands on services.

While other councils are being forced to put up bills in order to balance their books, Mid Suffolk is proposing to freeze its share of council tax – absorbing rising costs, rather than passing them on to residents.

Mid Suffolk leader Suzie Morley said: “Our residents and communities rely on us to deliver essential services – now more than ever. We are not immune to rising costs, but we know that our residents and businesses are feeling the pinch too.

“Thanks to careful and forward-thinking financial management over recent years, we can now protect services without putting up our share of the bills – and still deliver on our pledges. This means we can continue to tackle climate change, support our district’s economic growth as well as caring for our communities and the wellbeing of our residents.”

The freeze would mean the annual Mid Suffolk proportion of the council tax bill for a Band D property remaining at £171.59.

Mid Suffolk District Council also previously agreed a reduction of up to 100% for residents with the lowest incomes and a simplification of the existing Council Tax Reduction Scheme for residents on Universal Credit.

John Whitehead, cabinet member for Finance for Mid Suffolk District Council, said: “It is testament to the council’s robust financial position and our prudent stewardship of the council’s resources that we are now in the enviable position of being able to protect the services that people rely on, without putting extra burden on our residents – particularly given the economic turbulence we have faced this year.”

The budget report outlines the scale of the financial challenge face by the council as a result of global events, such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, plus rising inflation and interest rates.

Figures show the council’s net cost of delivering services are set to increase by 41 per cent from £8.77m in 2022/23 to £12.41m in 2023/34. This means this year’s expected surplus will be reduced, with just over £3m now expected to go into earmarked reserves.

There is a similar picture with the council’s Housing Revenue Account, with a 40% increase to cost of services. This means a proposed seven per cent increase in rents for council housing to try to keep pace and to ensure the necessary investment in repairs and maintenance across the council’s social housing stock.

This would mean average weekly social rent increasing by £6.16 a week from £87.99 to £94.15.  For affordable housing, weekly rents would increase by £9.03 from £126.96 to £137.99.

Members of the council’s Overview and Scrutiny committee have already had chance to review the budget ahead of the final recommendation going to cabinet on February 6.

Following cabinet, the proposed budget will go before Full Council on February 23.  Any changes to council tax or rents would then take affect from April 1.