Council proposes 5% council tax rise to cut deficit

Council finance portfolio holder Barbara Cannon said the situation was inherited

A local authority facing "significant" cost pressures is proposing increasing council tax by almost 5%.

Cumberland Council predicted a £29m overspend in November, but said it was now looking at a deficit of £8.5m.

The authority was formed in April as part of a reorganisation of local government, with Labour cabinet member for finance Barbara Cannon saying its current financial position was "inherited".

She stressed the council had not "taken the decision to propose a rise in council tax lightly".

Ms Cannon said this was the authority's "first real" budget.

"Last year's budget was based on what we got when we were created on 1 April, so it was the inherited position," she said.

"What's happening now is we are creating our own future position."

She said merging local councils into one unitary authority was intended to cut costs but that would take up to three years.

"There's no doubt about it, that there's going to be some difficult decisions that have to be made," she said.

The council has inherited four sets of back-office staffing

The council said it faced a "challenging financial situation" with cuts in government funding, high inflation rates and increasing demand for some of its services, especially social care for adults and children.

It had inherited four sets of back-office staff and needed to recruit staff in social care to avoid hiring agency workers "who cost quite a lot of money", Ms Cannon said.

It also needed to address a lack of sufficient places for children in care in Cumbria, which had led to the council sending children out of the county - which is "expensive", she added.

The council is proposing a council tax rise of 4.99% in its portion of council tax, made up of 2.99% for general council services and a 2% rise for adult social care.

The authority also plans to double charges for the 3,000 second home-owners in the area, raising approximately £5m.

Recruitment freeze

The authority's proposed council tax rise is the maximum it can set without triggering a local referendum.

It is on course to overspend on children’s services by £18m this financial year.

Officers said more children were going into care and the council was spending millions on those with highly complex needs.

It has made some reduction in spending, but is still on course to go £8.5m over budget by April, which would need to be funded from reserves.

Savings options also include a recruitment freeze, with many non-essential vacancies unfilled, and a review of expensive care packages.

A public consultation runs until 12 January. Any increase would be introduced next April.