Newcastle City Council tax hike and job cuts to be decided

The cuts will be debated next Wednesday

Proposals to increase council tax bills, raise car parking charges and cut dozens of jobs are to be debated next week.

Newcastle City Council chiefs anticipate that they will need to make £67m worth of savings in the next three years.

A 3.99% hike in council tax bills and cuts of more than £6m to its social services budget have been proposed.

The council's Labour leader said it had "not been an easy task whatsoever".

As part of the cutbacks, 54 council jobs will be axed, although 40 of those affected are set to fill vacant posts.

It comes as more than £300m has been wiped off the council's annual budget due to cuts since 2010, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

Meanwhile, councils across north-east England are having to make cutbacks amid the cost of living crisis and rising inflation levels.

The cuts, which are due to be debated and signed off at a council meeting on 1 March, will come in over the 2023/24 period.

Labour leader, Nick Kemp warned that financial challenges would become an annual issue "without long-term sustainable funding from central government".

He said: "Ultimately, I have a firm belief that sustainable local government is the building block of democracy and government in the country.

"Therefore we need to work together, whatever our political persuasions, in continuing to lobby for that case."

Labour councillor Paul Frew, the cabinet member for finance, said that setting a budget had been a "big challenge," causing an "enormous amount of turbulence" for civic centre finance chiefs.

Under the proposals, a council tax increase of 3.99%, including a 2% adult social care precept increase, would cost a typical Band D property an extra £1.42 per week.

The exact increase in fees for council-run car parks has not yet been announced.