County council plans to increase tax by 3.99%

Nottinghamshire County Council plans to increase its share of council tax bills by 3.99% in the coming year, leaders have revealed.

The first budget, set by the new Reform UK administration, would mean, on average, households paying an extra £1.24 on their council tax bill every week.

Council leader Mick Barton said the authority had avoided raising it by the maximum 4.99% because the authority would save £44m through "efficiencies" over the next three years.

However, the Conservative group at the council said plans to save money, including in adult social care and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) transport, were "built on sand".

The authority said the rise in tax would raise about £20m.

Barton, leader of the Reform group which took over the council in May, said: "I think it's a good news story, it's one of the lowest in the last 10 years.

"We have tried to keep it as low as we can but we have still got real important services to deliver.

"We're trying to be prudent with our finances. Every pound will help the people out there.

"It's a tough task on ourselves but we're not afraid of a challenge."

He added it would be investing £49m in the highways budget in the next year, an increase of about £9m compared to the previous year.

Neighbouring Derbyshire County Council, also run by Reform, is raising its share of council tax bills by 4.99% - the maximum allowed without a referendum.

And the rise in Nottinghamshire is less than last year, when the Conservatives raised tax by 4.84%.

Barton said the identified savings were not cuts or job losses, but ways of running the council and services more efficiently.

Asked for an example, he said it had already saved £1.6m on the use of agency staff.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) has previously reported the medium-term saving plans include about £21.3m in adult social care, £17.5m in its children and families department and about £2.75m in SEND transport savings.

When challenged on what would happen if the efficiencies did not materialise, Barton said: "We're accountable... we've got to make sure we deliver these efficiency savings."

The LDRS has also reported the authority will be using £4.2m from its rainy day fund - of which it currently has £36m in spare cash - to balance the books.

It said it planned to pay it back next year.

Conservative group leader Sam Smith said: "The efficiencies that they forecast are built on absolute sand and will not come to fruition.

"They're forecasting a reduction in adult social care and SEND demand totalling about £30m - I think they're the only council in the country forecasting [that].

"They will have to find cuts to services to fund those efficiencies that won't be delivered."

He added Reform had promised in election material to freeze and cut council tax and it "had not been able to deliver it".

A Labour group spokesperson added: "They wasted money putting up flags, they are doing a terrible job filling potholes and now they are putting up taxes when they said they wouldn't."

The budget will be discussed by councillors in the coming week and if approved, people will start paying more in council tax from April.

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