Wiltshire Council plans maximum tax rise despite cash surplus

Reducing the carbon footprint of its buildings is said to be saving Wiltshire Council £2m a year in running costs

Wiltshire's council tax could be raised by the maximum allowed, despite the council expecting to have money to spare at the end of the financial year.

Wiltshire's Conservative leaders are proposing a 4.99% tax rise, but say the council is in a far more financially stable position than most thanks to "preventative" spending.

The increase will equate to an extra £85 a year for a typical home.

The council said it intends to free up more cash for road and gully repairs.

Its leaders added that they are forecasting a lower level tax rise in the two following years.

Leader Richard Clewer says Wiltshire's tax rise is needed to cover rising costs

The narrative in Wiltshire is very different from their neighbours like Swindon, which is facing record spending cuts, and Somerset, which is trying to avoid bankruptcy.

"It's not a simplistic salami-slicing approach which far too many councils take," said Wiltshire Council leader Richard Clewer.

"We take a long-term approach, we've set a budget that identifies all the savings we need to make for three years to come."

He cites the examples of Wiltshire now reaping the benefits of heavily investing in making buildings more energy efficient, generating savings of around around £2m a year.

Meanwhile its Children's Services department, which was recently given the highest possible rating by Ofsted, has invested rather than cut the early support designed to prevent family breakdown which is helping prevent the spiralling costs seen in other councils.

Most equivalent councils are planning to take the full tax rise allowed by government, of 2.99% with an extra two per cent specifically for social care.

For a home in a typical Band D property in Wiltshire, that is an extra £85 a year, bringing the total bill just over £1,800.

Over the coming month the opposition parties will have their chance to scrutinise the plans and propose alternatives, but there are likely to be calls for previous cuts to be reversed.

The budget and five per cent tax rise will not be finalised until February

"At the moment we (Wiltshire) are in a strong position in terms of the overall numbers, there's no doubt about that" said Councillor Ian Thorn, the opposition Liberal Democrat leader, but he raised concerns the relatively low level of reserves is a "worry" which needs addressing.

Mr Thorn also said given the relative financial health of the council, his party is likely to call for the authority to revisit contentious cuts to elderly lunch clubs and parking charges for disabled drivers imposed over the last two years.

Defending the rise, when the council is expecting to finish this year in surplus, Mr Clewer told BBC Radio Wiltshire: "Our own inflation this year has run around seven to eight percent and we're looking to put tax up by five per cent so even with council tax we're not covering our own costs."

"There's actually a bit of surplus here we can reinvest into areas that are really important for our residents", Mr Clewer said.

He said this could include an extra £1m for gully clearance and potholes.

The budget plans will be finalised at a meeting of all councillors on 20 February.