Torbay Council to raise council tax by below the maximum allowed

Council tax bills are to rise by 4.75% in Torbay

Torbay Council has opted against putting council tax bills up by the maximum amount.

Council tax will rise by 4.75% for residents, below the 4.99% maximum allowed by the government.

Council leader David Thomas said this would set "firm foundations" for "the difficulties we know we've got coming".

Last week East Devon District Council agreed an increase in its share of council tax of about 3%, the maximum it can charge without a referendum.

Councils with social care duties, including Torbay, can raise council tax by up to 4.99% without triggering a referendum.

Others, such as East Devon, can increase it by up to 2.99%.

Torbay councillor Katya Maddison said the decision will cost the authority "a great deal of money" while saving local households a relatively small amount.

She said: "By setting the council tax rise a fraction below the government cap, it will cost the council a great deal of money for the sake of saving local households 6p a week."

Mr Thomas said: "This is about putting building blocks in place to give us some certainty about the difficulties that we know we've got coming over the hill."

No councillors voted against the budget or the council tax rise, although many opposition members abstained, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported.

Last week East Devon District Council agreed to its share of council tax bills going up by £5 to £166.78, an increase of around 3% compared with the previous year.

This is 7% of the total council tax bill, which is set to rise by £112.49 to £2,348.20 for an average band D property in the district.

Devon County Council accounts for 73% of the total, with the remainder distributed among the police, fire service and town and parish councils.