Chesterfield Borough Council criticised for passing ‘avoidable’ Council Tax rise

In a full council meeting last night (February 23), the majority of Chesterfield Borough Council members voted for a 2.86 per cent increase in Council Tax for 2022/23, which equates to an extra £5 a year for Band D and £3.33 for Band A properties – however the Lib Dem opposition argued the authority had the funds to avoid this.

In proposing the increase, leader Councillor Tricia Gilby said: “It is in my view a rational act from a responsible Labour-controlling administration for the council to raise Council Tax for the coming financial year to ensure that we can continue to put our communities first.”

She said the council had suffered great losses as a result of the pandemic, but a combination of robust management action plans, a comprehensive review of non-essential spending and diligent use of available Government funding had enabled the authority to forecast a small surplus at the end of the financial year of £128,000.

Coun Gilby said the council’s Medium Term Financial Plan showed balanced accounts for two years until the end of March 2024, however added that the lack of stability from central Government about available grant funding meant the authority had to be cautious in its budget.

She continued: “We are not able to forgo the benefit of having that extra income locked into our base budgets when the Government is unable to give us the surety of anything more than a single year financial settlement.”

However leader of the Lib Dem opposition Councillor Paul Holmes pointed out that on December 16 last year the council had unexpectedly received £1.3million in additional support from central Government, which it had used to prop up its finances.

He claimed that at the same time, neighbouring Labour administration Mansfield District Council had received a significantly smaller sum of £400,000, which it had used to freeze Council Tax for its residents.

He said Chesterfield could ‘easily afford’ to do the same, commenting: “Just over £150,000 would freeze Council Tax this year and you’d still have over £1million that you did not expect to have.”

He went on to say that two members of the borough council’s Cabinet were also county councillors, who had voted against the proposal by the Conservative-led Derbyshire County Council to raise Council Tax by three per cent a few weeks ago – implying a double standard.

He said: “If the Government puts taxes up, that’s wrong.

“If the county council puts taxes up, that’s wrong.

“But for the borough council to do it, it’s responsible long-term planning.”

Coun Gilby assured residents that any extra cash made through the Council Tax increase would be put to ‘good use’ advancing ‘bold commitments’ for the future of the borough.

https://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/news/environment/council-approves-400-homes-near-chesterfield-despite-concerns-3581468