WOKINGHAM’S Council Tax rise will be 3.49% plus the parish precepts and £2 a month extra for the police, taking the Band D council tax bill to more than £1,500 a year.
The decision to increase the charge – which will see the Wokingham Borough Council share of a Band D council tax increase to £1,483.93 a year. This figure excludes the parish precepts which vary according to where in the borough the residents live and £24 a year for the police.
The new leader of the council, Cllr Julian McGhee-Sumner, introduced his spending plan at a special press briefing on Thursday, February 14. Also attended by BBC Radio Berkshire’s political correspondent, it gave Cllr McGhee-Sumner and his finance team – Executive Member Cllr Anthony Pollock and director of corporate services, Graham Ebers – the chance to set out their vision for the year ahead.
More details will be revealed in The Wokingham Paper on Thursday, February 21 – the same day that councillors will be asked to approve the figures at a council meeting in the evening.
The council says that just 11% of its spending power comes from a Government grant “the lowest among unitary authorities”.
In the press briefing, the council said: “That equates to £83 per person. As a comparison, Reading Borough Council receives £193 per person, Bracknell £149, West Berks £111 and Slough £238.”
A cost-cutting programme, known as 21st Century Council, is on target to save £26 million and as part of that, it has teamed up with other local local authorities to deliver legal services and building control services.
And Cllr McGhee-Sumner said that the authority had to get used to “being badly funded”.
He said: “We have to come up with new ways to save money, raise revenue, safeguard our future and provide services.
“We are able to propose a budget that will focus on improving the services people rely on every day.”
Band D – Wokingham Borough Council base rate 2019/20 (proposed) £1,483.93
Plus parish council precepts
As part of this, he pledged to maintain the weekly waste collections and to improve both the council’s country parks and libraries.
Road building projects will continue “as part of our attempts to counter the difficulties people are facing from congestion” and also “filling potholes and doing important road maintenance”.
The council’s regeneration projects in Wokingham town currently don’t count towards revenue and any income from letting properties will go towards repaying debt incurred as a result of construction. The council also talked about its purchase of the Bush Walk shopping parade in Wokingham town as a good example of looking for alternative income streams in the wake of the reduced Government grant.
Cllr McGhee-Sumner said: “We are taking the long-term view with a £100m portfolio of investments. Bush Walk is returning well on the investment.
“We cannot sit back and think a future Government will have a change of heart and start funding us fairly. We must look after ourselves.”
The council tax increase for Wokingham borough is a general increase of 2.99%, with a social care precept levy of 0.5%.
And Thames Valley Police is seeking an additional £24 per home for the coming financial year.
The Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley, Anthony Stansfeld, said: “Over £100 million has been cut from Thames Valley Police’s annual budget over the last eight years. While the Force continues to prioritise its work and make efficiency savings, there was significant concern that budget pressures would lead to unacceptable reductions in resources which would impact frontline policing and result in a service less able to respond to increases in demand.
“The 2019/20 funding settlement has allowed us to avoid a reduction in resource and I am pleased to be able to agree a budget which enables Thames Valley Police to invest in operational policing to help protect our communities.
“It is important to recognise, however that more than half of the funding in the Governments 2019/20 settlement (£509m) available nationally to Police and Crime Commissioners is expected to come from local taxpayers by increasing the police portion of the Council Tax.
“Before I made a decision on the level of Council Tax, I sought views of the residents of the Thames Valley. Of the 8,031 people who completed the survey, 69.7% agreed to an increase to fund policing. I am therefore proposing an increase in the police portion of the Council Tax in 2019/20 of £24 for the equivalent of a Band D property.
“After funding pay and price rise, the increase in Council Tax enables me to invest around £8.5m in a number of priority policing areas. These include the recruitment of additional officers to respond to increasing crime demand and complexity, improved service to the public in investment in 101 call handling, the recruitment of investigators to tackle complex crime and, investment in technology to improve productivity and efficiency.”
