Brighton and Hove councillors agree 6% council tax rise
- Published
Tory councillors supported the budget in exchange for £460,000 of extra spending
A 6% council tax rise and savings of £12m have been agreed by Brighton and Hove City Council for the coming year.
Once increases to precepts for police and fire services are taken into account, that means an extra £101.28 for the average Band D household.
With rising demand for council services, and less grant funding from Whitehall, savings were needed to balance the budget.
These include £600,000 taken out of the budget for sexual health.
In addition, there is reduced funding for respite breaks and adults with learning disabilities.
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Moving his budget, Labour council leader Warren Morgan slammed the government, saying its approach to local government finance was "on a road to nowhere".
Tory councillors supported the budget in exchange for £460,000 of extra spending on various services, including mental health support in schools and careers advice for young people with special educational needs.
But Green amendments were rejected.
They wanted the council to borrow to build its own temporary accommodation, and scrap free parking for councillors in order to provide an extra £30,000 for home-school transport.
Green convenor Phélim MacCafferty sharply criticised the deal between the other parties, saying Labour had "failed the city" and was "not up to the job".