Suffolk County Council: Cabinet backs £24m of cuts

Council tax payers in Suffolk face an increase of 4.99% from 2018

A council tax rise of almost 5% and £23.9m of cuts have been agreed by councillors in Suffolk.

The package of measures were backed by the county council's cabinet and will go to the full council for final approval on 8 February.

The rise breaks down as a 2.99% increase in general tax, with an additional 2% for adult social care.

It means an average band D council tax property owner will have to pay £1,242 a year.

Despite the increase for taxpayers, it is planned that £12m will be cut from adult and community services, and corporate services will see a budget reduction of £9.7m.

Savings will also be made from resource management (£1.7m) and fire and public safety (£240,000) budgets.

The fire service savings would be achieved by the sharing of facilities with the police and ambulance services, the council said.

Conservative-led Suffolk County Council said it needed a budget requirement of £443,348,685 to deliver services for the 2018-19 financial year.