Lancashire County Council has confirmed it will increase council tax bills by the maximum permitted amount this year.

The authority’s members voted by a majority to approve the 4.99 per cent rise, which will add between £52 and £157 to the charge levied on households, depending on which band their property falls into.

It means a Band D property will now face an annual bill to the county council of £1,653.29, up £78.58 from last year, plus further contributions to borough councils and the police.

It comes against the backdrop of huge cuts to central Government funding since 2010, plus surging inflation and and increased demand for services which have hit County Hall over the past 12 months.

That combination has placed  almost £92 million of additional budgetary pressure on the coffers for the year ahead.

The county council is amongst the estimated 95 per cent of local authorities to hike bills by as much as the government will allow without holding a local referendum.

Two per cent of the increase will be ringfenced to help cover the ever increasing cost of social care services for adults and children.

It comes as Hyndburn, Burnley and Rossendale residents all look set to have the borough part of their council tax increased by the maximum 2.99 per cent, while the Conservative police and crime commissioner Andrew Snowden is also hiking his police precept by 4.75 per cent.

The authority’s Conservative leader, Councillor Phillippa Williamson, told a meeting of the full council that while she was recommending the hike with “great reluctance”, it would not be “prudent” to do anything else under the circumstances.

She said: “We are determined to deliver the best services, support and value for money for…residents and businesses – and we know that the foundation to success is to have strong and stable finances."

Unlike in some previous years, the level of council tax rise prompted neither dissent nor debate from the opposition parties – perhaps a reflection of the fact that an estimated 95 per cent of local authorities nationwide are expected to make the same move.

However, the same could not be said for how the authority plans to spend its money and balance its books – with the perennial potholes discussion this year vying for prominence amidst exchanges over children’s homes, anti-social behaviour and renewable energy.

The county council’s cabinet recently agreed almost £14m of new savings and income generation – part of a total £97.8m of cost-cutting needed over the next three years.

The Labour opposition group’s shadow cabinet member for resources, Matthew Tomlinson, set out what he said was “an alternative to the death-by-a-thousand-cuts approach of this Conservative administration”.

He told the meeting Labour would take £35m from County Hall’s transitional reserve pot – which currently stands at £165m – to fund, amongst other things, extra investment in pothole-filling and to cover the cost of ditching some of the Tories’ proposed cuts.

The two savings packages he said Labour would jettison were the plans to scrap free bus passes for 16-18-year olds who are not in education, employment or training, or who are young carers, and to drop a £1 fare for disabled bus passengers travelling before 9.30am on weekdays.

He contrasted those policies with the “BMWs, Lexus and Jaguars” that he said could be seen in the members’ car park.

“Imagine driving to County Hall today with your heated seat, your bluetooth stereo and your cruise control knowing that one of your priorities is to make it harder for young people and disabled people to do something as simple as ride on a bus,” county Cllr Tomlinson said.

The Tories condemned what they characterised as the recklessness of Labour’s plan to spend more than 20 per cent of reserves in a single year.

“What will you do when that money runs out?” Conservative Cllr Charlie Edwards asked. “You don’t have an answer to that.”

Cabinet member for finance, Cllr Alan Vincent, added:  “Tough measures and decisions are sometimes needed alongside transformation of services.

"We have and we continue to do both – and maintain financial stability and key services – because it’s what the public want us to do.”

Labour’s Lian Pate said that the issue was sometimes more to do with how the council spent its cash, more than how much money it had at its disposal.

Claiming that special needs services for young people had not been a “priority” for elected members, she said that all sides needed to “start listening to each other in a sensible way and having proper debate that doesn’t just start within the chamber”.

Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrat’s John Potter warned Labour that as their party was likely to enter national government before the next county budget, this would probably be the last year they could blame everything on “those evil Tories”.

“I haven’t heard much from Labour about local authority funding going forward.   They will have to put their money where their mouth is from next year,” County Cllr Potter said.

He also accused the Conservatives at County Hall of being willing to reject “the best idea in the world” if it came from anywhere other than within their own ranks.

Green party group leader Gina Dowding said she would be unable to support the budget of an administration that was “so woefully lacking in its commitment of resources to dealing with the climate emergency”.

“They seem to be ideologically committed to slowing down action,” she added.

Former Labour group leader and Rochdale by-election candidate Cllr Azhar Ali made his first contribution at County Hall since moving to sit as an independent, following his suspension from the party over comments he made about Israel, to declare the Tories at County Hall had “failed".

He said:  “I look forward to when the Labour group in 2025 take over, control this council and put matters right.”