Cumberland council agrees 5% tax hike

Residents across Cumberland will pay an average of £86 more in council tax

Residents across Cumberland will see their council tax charges increase.

Cumberland Council approved its budget for the next financial year, including a 4.99% rise in council tax.

It means households will be expected to pay £86 a year more, on average, to help pay for council services.

Labour councillor Barbara Cannon, who is responsible for finance, blamed the decision on the "devastating" decline in government funding and a rise in demand for services.

Other measures voted through include increasing the premium paid on second homes by 100%.

Ms Cannon said: "Putting up council tax is never an easy decision, especially at a time when people's own budgets are stretched.

"With costs rising, increasing council tax helps protect services that are so important for many of our residents - a situation which residents understand, given their responses to our consultation."

She added schemes were in place to help those on the lowest incomes and anyone struggling to pay their council tax should contact the council for support.

Budget gap

The budget includes savings of £37m. However, the Local Democracy Reporting service says there remains a predicted budget gap of more than £10m.

The authority said this will be funded through the use of capitalised resources and council reserves.

Lib Dem councillors had proposed some amendments to the budget, including more cash for school maintenance and extra gritters, but they were turned down.Stressing how funding from central government had been reduced over the past 14 years, LibDem councillor Roger Dobson said: "We must do the best with the resources we have."

The council said the budget was approved with "overwhelming" support.

However, Conservative councillor David Moore said he felt there had been too much focus on central government's role.

"We have no confidence in the budget that has been proposed," he added.