'Maximum' council tax increase for Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire County Council said it had "no option" but to increase council tax by the maximum 5.99%

A local authority has increased council tax by 5.99% - the maximum which is allowed without holding a referendum.

Buckinghamshire County Council is implementing a 3% rise for social care and a 2.99% increase in standard council tax to "reflect inflation".

The council said it had "no option" but to choose the maximum increase, as it is not receiving a revenue support grant from the government.

The rise means those in band D homes will be paying an extra £72 a year.

The budget, which has been agreed by the full council, is made up of an allowance of £336m for day-to-day spending and £122.6m for capital spending.

It includes investing £26.7m in Buckinghamshire's roads and £36.6m for providing school places.

Planned cuts to library opening hours have been scrapped due to an investment of £100,000.

While Buckinghamshire County Council is one of two councils not to receive a revenue support grant from the government, which was £61m in 2013, it has been given a one-off grant of £1m to be used on social care.

The Conservative leader of the council Martin Tett said: "The loss of the revenue support grant has a really big impact.

"We were faced with either cutting services or increasing council tax and so there will be an increase which I deeply regret - but we did not have an option on that."