Council tax rise approved, how does it affect you?

A council leader has said that agreeing a budget for next year was "not a triumph" - with people in North Somerset due to pay 8.99% more council tax from April.

Liberal Democrat council leader Mike Bell admitted: "People are going to be asked to pay more, services will continue to deteriorate".

The council was given special permission by the government for a bigger-than-usual rise.

So what does the increase mean for you, why is it happening, and is help available if you can't afford it? Here we answer some of the questions that arise from the biggest council tax rise in decades.

A Band D property will pay around £160 more next year compared to last - an increase of £13.44 per month.

The cheapest group of properties, those ranked as Band A, will pay £11.46 per month more.

In recent years council tax has been low in North Somerset compared neighbouring authorities.

The rise means the authority's rates will now be very similar to Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset. Bristol is around £300 per year more expensive for a Band D property.

But many people in North Somerset pay extra to their town or parish councils as well. These authorities are not subject to the same limits on how much they put up charges.

Portishead Town Council, for example, has put up its annual charge for a Band D property by £83 next year to pay for more maintenance of parks and public toilets.

That sounds unlikely.

The budget has been described even by those who support it as "pay more, get less". It includes cuts to library hours and new parking charges in Clevedon.

Bell said that 92% of council tax income is spent on adult and children's social care. With costs and demand rising, there is little money left to pay for other services.

During the budget debate, councillors said there was a "gulf" or a "chasm" between what people expect and what they're going to get.

The government has changed how it allocates funding to local authorities, called the "Fair Funding Review".

This means that more deprived areas are getting a greater proportion of the money.

While there are pockets of very high deprivation around Weston-super-Mare, on average North Somerset is among the least deprived 20% areas in the country. So the amount of money the council gets from government is now lower than it would have expected.

North Somerset's government grant was cut by £6m next year. The extra increase in council tax raises £5.9m - causing Bell to describe it as "a council tax rise that has been made in Westminster and in Whitehall".

North Somerset was one of only seven councils in the country where the government agreed it would be necessary to raise council tax beyond normal limits this year.

Some households can have their bill reduced automatically through the Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

In North Somerset this help is available to people on very low incomes, some pensioners and those living with disabled children.

The automatic reduction is going to be lower than in previous years, but there are one-off grants available to people in need - for example if buying a new fridge has made it impossible to afford the council tax bill this month.