Council mulls charge hikes to ease budget pressure

Stockton Council is considering changes to a number of its services

Charges for car parking, school meals and non-residential care could go up as a council looks to address its financial challenges.

Stockton Council is considering changes to a number of its services, including waste collection.

The proposals will be discussed at a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

The council's leader said: "We need to use the limited amount of money we have wisely to deliver efficient services."

Within the borough, the maximum charge of £459.60 per week for residents receiving care at home has not been reviewed since 2017, when the council implemented a maximum charge of 60% of the cost.

Following a change to national legislation, many other councils removed the cap and charged the full amount to residents who could afford to pay.

Stockton is now planning to do the same, and said 49 residents would be affected.

Green waste charge

The council said income generated by the borough's car parks was not enough to maintain them, so free parking for the first hour in Stockton and Yarm town centres would be replaced by a £1.50 charge for the first three hours.

The local authority said it hoped this would encourage visitors to stay in the towns for longer, increasing footfall and benefitting local businesses.

It also wants to increase the cost of school meals to £3, given the rising cost of food.

The service for academy trusts which used council catering would also be reviewed to ensure they met the full cost, the council said, with the price per child varying depending on the size of the trust.

There would be changes to waste collection, with food and recycling collected weekly, and residual waste every other week.

A fortnightly green waste collection would be introduced at the cost of £40 per year.

Councillor Bob Cook, leader of the council, said: "Continued demand on our services, rising costs and uncertain future funding streams continue to provide a really challenging climate for us.

"We don’t make proposals like this lightly and central to our thinking is how we can improve outcomes for our communities by remaining incredibly ambitious for the future of our residents, businesses and towns."