Harborough District Council freezes its council tax share

Councillors at Harborough District Council approved the authority’s 2024-25 budget

A district's share of council tax has been frozen for next year, however residents in a Leicestershire area will still face higher bills.

The 2024-25 budget at Harborough District Council has been approved, meaning there will be no increase in its share of council tax for residents.

However some still have to pay their share to the county council, parish councils and the police and fire services.

The bill overall will be higher.

It comes as Leicestershire County Council, Leicestershire Police and Leicestershire Fire and Rescue are all set to increase their shares of the charge in April, with the county council approving a 4.99% rise, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

The police force has confirmed a maximum increase of £13 per Band D property, meaning an increase of 4.76%. The fire service share is also increasing by 3%, meaning an increase of £2.36 a year more for Band D properties.

'Careful balance'

But when it comes to Harborough District Council's share of council tax, this will stay the same for residents.

Further proposals in the district council's budget also included freezing green bin charges and car parking charges, as well as repeating last year's free car parking on Saturdays in December.

The freeze on charges is possible as the council said it would have £5m more in its pockets over the next two financial years.

It will look to spend some of this money on projects, including a £1m on grants to parishes and additional waste collection vehicles costing £470,000, while the rest will be put in its reserves to help bridge any funding gaps that might occur in future years.

Proposing the budget, councillor Mark Graves, the district council's cabinet lead for resources, said the spare cash had been generated from a "combination of strong financial leadership that ensured its services were run with value for money and continuous improvement at their core".

"Despite there being inevitable challenges ahead due to reductions in central government funding, we are carefully balancing the need to save for the future and set aside reserves to meet future years' deficits while delivering our priorities for communities," he added.

However, Conservative councillor Phil King proposed an amendment, suggesting council tax should be reduced.

His suggestion was to reduce the council tax by £5 for residents, meaning a Band D property would be lower than the previous year at £172.97.

Councillors voted to reject the amendment.