Newcastle City Council have proposed to raise taxes in new financial plan

Newcastle have set out proposals to save more than £23m in their 2023-24 financial plan by raising council taxes and reducing the demand for children’s services.

Against a backdrop of having saved £347m since 2010, Newcastle City Council is looking to save £23m this year and £63.2m to stop people falling into poverty amid record inflation highs. 

The local authorities’ proposals also cover the 2025-2026 financial year.

Cllr Nick Kemp, Leader of Newcastle City Council said: ‘The increasing financial pressure on councils everywhere means that inevitably, our budgets cannot stretch as far as we would wish.   

‘We have taken every step to mitigate the impact of government cuts on our residents, and we are absolutely focused on supporting people and businesses in Newcastle to get through the cost-of-living crisis.’  

Amongst proposals, the city council has prioritised:

• A freeze on charges for local services and the cost of school meals
• Paying a living wage to our staff and commissioned services
• Increasing support for those on low incomes through the city’s council tax reduction scheme  

‘Yet again, central government have failed to provide adequate, long-term funding to enable local authorities to deliver essential services for residents,’ Mr Kemp says, ‘and this means we have had to continue to make difficult decisions, but we have made these decisions based on the needs of our residents ensuring that we can continue to deliver the very best services.’  

The proposals for Newcastle include:

• Raising council tax by 1.99%
• Applying 1% increase in the governments Adult Social Care Precept
• Remodelling care assessments to reduce £3.24m in Adult Social Care
• Reducing demand for children, education and skills services to reduce spending by £3.3m
• Close the council’s in-house print service and explore procurement options saving £190K
• Increase on and off streetcar parking by 20p          

Next year, the council is estimated to spend £250.4m on essential services and £131m on capital projects such as roads, schools and houses.        

Cllr Kemp has also said, ‘We want our services to support our residents so that they can thrive and contribute to the success of our city by living their best lives.

‘We want to limit ill health, poverty, poor education, or the many other factors that too often limit people’s potential. Our commitment is more important now, when so many of our residents are facing real hardship and an uncertain future.’

The Cabinet is set to meet on 21^st November to discuss these proposals and a public consultation will begin 11^th January 2023.

Photo by Daniel Welsh