Newcastle City Council budget: Tax rises and £15million of cuts approved in cost saving measures

Newcastle City Council has approved its budget for the coming year - featuring council tax rises and spending cuts.

Officials had previously said that "tough" decisions would be necessary to avoid following other local authorities around the country into effective bankruptcy.

The Labour-run council has warned that it must find £60 million worth of savings by 2027 to balance its books, including £14.4 million over the next 12 months.

Proposals to reduce council spending were signed off by councillors on Wednesday night. Cuts of £15million have been approved while council tax will rise by 4.99% - the maximum permitted amount.

Crisis support services and a scheme providing basic items for people in poverty will be hit by the cuts, while residents also face higher charges for replacement bins, garden waste collections and parking. A small number of job losses are also expected.

The authority agreed to spend £281 million on vital public services and invest £155 million in capital projects, including improvements to Northumberland Street, a new leisure centre in West Denton and improvements to the Grainger Market.

Council cabinet member Paul Frew told this week’s annual budget meeting that there was “no low-hanging fruit” left at the civic centre that could be targeted for cuts after £369 million was slashed over 14 years. However, he insisted Newcastle was in a “much better position than comparable local authorities”.

Nick Kemp, the council’s leader, warned that local councils had been plunged into an “existential crisis” and that the model to fund council services “simply does not work”.

Much of the attention on the cuts had focused on a proposal that would have seen the council halve its spending on beds and support services for homeless people – a move charities branded as “inhumane”.

That plan was paused last month following the backlash but officials have said they will still be putting the service under review.

The final budget proposals voted through by the council are:

- A council tax rise of 4.99%, including a 2% precept towards the cost of adult social care, amounting to a yearly increase of between £63.85 and £191.55 depending on your house’s banding

- Ceasing the council’s crisis support service, which has a £100,000 annual provision to help people suffering emergencies through circumstances including domestic violence and financial abuse

- Cutting the budget of a supporting independence scheme, which provides access to basic items such as beds and cookers to people in poverty, from £457,000 to £100,000

- Removal of an Intensive Family Intervention Team, which works with families whose children are at risk of being taken into care

- Reducing a subsidy for the city’s school meal service by £537,000 and charging schools an extra 50p per meal

- Higher charges for wheelie bins, garden waste collection, parking permits and car parking

- The loss of 40 council jobs, including 20 currently vacant posts.

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