East Herts Council raises tax and halts spending to save cash

Councillors agreed to pause work on a new arts centre in Old River Lane, Bishop's Stortford

A council plans to raise tax, sell buildings and pause work on an arts centre to try to balance its budget.

East Herts Council will increase its share of council tax by 2.99%, adding £5.65 to a Band D bill, for the new financial year from April.

The authority, run by the Greens and Liberal Democrats, has agreed to find more than £5m in savings by 2026.

It includes halting development of a £23.4m arts centre in Bishop's Stortford.

• Council tax rises to prevent £3m funding gap

• Theatre revamp costs rise to nearly £20m

Green Party councillor and executive member for financial sustainability, Carl Brittain, said: "Perhaps the biggest issue affecting this council is the level of debt it has accrued.

"Over the past five years, there has been significant capital spending by the previous administration."

East Herts Council has mapped out spending worth £95m on four major projects in recent budgets, which Mr Brittain said was "more than the council could finance without substantial borrowing".

Projects include Hartham Leisure Centre, Northgate End multi-storey car park, Grange Paddocks leisure centre and Hertford Theatre, where estimated costs have risen from £24.1m to £31m.

'A bitter pill'

Draft budget papers showed East Herts Council expected to spend £2.96m on interest payments alone in 2024-25, rising to £3.03m the following year, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Its cabinet agreed to explore "invest to save initiatives" and "completion of Hertford Theatre at as low a cost as possible".

Planners would resume work on the arts centre in Old River Lane, Bishop's Stortford, when "debt levels have fallen sufficiently" enough for new borrowing, it said.

Deputy leader of the council, Liberal Democrat Mione Goldspink said: "It has come as a great shock and cause of dismay to all of us to find ourselves in this financial position.

"It is a bitter pill to swallow, especially for the people of Bishop's Stortford."

The authority is run by the Greens and Liberal Democrats since the Tories were ousted in May.