Blackburn with Darwen Council announce budget proposals

The council announced yesterday that council tax for people living in the borough will rise by 4.99 per cent as part of their next budget. 

Council tax makes up 39 per cent of the council’s income to help fund services and it relies on government funding, local business rates and other income including grants, fees and charges to make up the remainder of its budget.

Since 2010 the council has had to make cuts equalling more than 40 per cent of its overall budget.

The government continues to assume that all councils will increase their council tax by the maximum – this year it’s 4.99 per cent.

To balance the budget, Blackburn with Darwen Council will also be asked to increase council tax by this amount which includes two per cent specifically for adult social care.

In the budget proposals, leaders also discussed a targeted investment package for frontline services, totalling £1.2m, which will mainly focus on improvements in environmental services and highways.

This includes maintaining green spaces and parks and supporting the volunteer litter pickers Red Bag Revolution with bin emptying collections across the borough.

Improved road markings and signage work on the borough's roads will continue to improve safety and help deter anti-social behaviour.

And access to free leisure activities will change to focus on children. Libraries will be able to retain their longer opening hours and the community response to tackling the climate change crisis will be further developed.

The council’s commitment to investing in services which support the most vulnerable children and adults remains, with increases in funding for children’s services and adult social care.

Council leader Phil Riley said: "We believe that high quality services are vital. We know when they are chipped away at, or even worse completely stopped, that it really impacts on people and their quality of life. 

"We have hard decisions to make because the budget gap caused by inflation, wage increases, demand for help and rising energy costs has to be filled. 

"There has been a really determined effort to save services and to invest in those areas that people really value and need.

"We have hundreds of services that our communities and economy rely on to make sure people don’t get left behind.

"I see a lot of really great technical expertise in everything from looking after our roads to looking after the vulnerable.

"I want us to save as many of those as possible as we continue to focus on growing the economy."

Councillor Vicky McGurk, executive member for resources, explained that the council received an increase in government funding for next year, yet uncertainty remains about the future.

She added: "We have unavoidable, spiralling costs and pressures to manage and only have guarantee of government funding for the next year making planning ahead more difficult.

"Saving the services that our residents want and need has to be our focus and every effort will be made to make the council as efficient as possible.

"Any extra money we collect will go to help those who face being left behind and the vulnerable, dealing with demand for social care for both young and old which is at an all-time high. 

"We will still be investing with a focus on ways of doing that which will save money further down the line."

The council recently carried out a residents’ survey which highlighted a number of priorities and concerns which have been used to influence the council’s corporate plan, vision and priorities.

Conservative Councillor Paul Morrow said: "We are in a cost of living crisis and I know the council had extra costs but I think we really need to have a look at not raising the council tax to the full amount.

"It's a tax on people and we need to seriously have a look at it. 4.99 per cent is the maximum they could raise it and they have raised it. A better percentage, we would have to have a proper look at the figures and make the raise as little as possible as it's people in the borough having to pay it, and they're suffering.

"They deserve the services that the council provides but the council has to do it effectively, not by wasting money on vanity projects and things that the council sometimes gets wrong. 

"As for children's services, it not my portfolio but we have to protect the most vulnerable in society so I am sure there's some good measures in there."

The budget proposals will be considered at the annual finance council meeting on Monday February 27 at 6pm.