Plans for council tax increase and £1bn investment

Council leader Lucy Nethsingha said next year's budget would be "challenging"

A council said it needed to make "difficult choices" as it proposed a maximum increase to next year's tax bill.

Cambridgeshire County Council suggested increasing its share of council tax by 4.99% in its budget proposal for 2025 to 2026.

The authority said it experienced rising demand for services, as well as the cost of those services, and cited pressures from special educational needs support and increases to National Insurance.

Liberal Democrat council leader, Lucy Nethsingha, said the authority did not receive enough funding from the government alone to meet the needs of Cambridgeshire's population.

"We are committed to ensuring the council delivers value for money in the services it provides," she said.

Nethsingha said next year's budget would be "challenging" and added: "This reflects the position faced by councils up and down the country."

Elisa Meschini, deputy council leader and leader of the Labour group, said "no one wants" to put council tax up.

"But we have had to consider some really tough choices," she said.

Steve Count, leader of the Conservative group on the council, accused the joint Labour and Lib Dem administration of "political spin".

He said: "They can't hide the fact that they continue to introduce maximum council tax rises while delivering service reductions."

The authority published its budget proposals for the coming year on Monday, which are out to consultation before a full council vote in the new year.

The 4.99% proposed increase to the county council's share of council tax would add £80.82 to the annual bill for a household living in a band D property.

Cambridgeshire County Council moved to New Shire Hall in Alconbury Weald in 2021

The authority said planned increases to the National Insurance rate paid by employers would add a significant cost to next year's budget.

It also said requests for support with children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities were rising.

Requests for education, health and care plans (EHCPs) have increased by 70% between 2020 and 2024, the council said.

The authority pledged to spend £1bn on essential services this year including maintaining highways and on social care.

It would spend £21m on fixing roads, footpaths, cycleways and drainage systems next year and £20m the following year.

A further £20m has been earmarked over three years for adult social care service providers to pay their workers the Real Living Wage.

Some £8.7m would be spent on upgrading household waste recycling centres in March and Milton, and £6.8m would be spent on low carbon heating for schools.

The council said it was left with a budget gap of £34.2m in 2025 to 2026, "which needs to be closed".

To help balance the books, it planned to reorganise its office space, sell properties -which would save £1.5m - and use technology to save a further £500,000.