Nuneaton and Bedworth Council Tax bills will rise by 5% in April

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The budget for 2024/2025 was set at a meeting last night



Householders across Nuneaton and Bedworth now know how much more they will pay for their Council Tax. The borough's budget for 2024/25 was set during a marathon meeting at the Town Hall last night (February 21).

Warwickshire County Council previously agreed to set its share of the bill at a 4.99 per cent rise, the maximum allowed without holding a public vote. The share for Warwickshire Police has been set at 4.7 per cent.

Borough councillors met to set the Town Hall's share of the bill last night. The ruling Tories proposed a 2.99 per cent rise in its budget. While Labour did not table a full alternative budget, it did propose amendments to the Conservative budget.

Part of the Labour amendment was to ask for a £5 rise for each Council Tax band. The Green Party did have an alternative budget but this was not signed-off by the council's 151 officers and therefore could not be officially proposed.

There was much debate about both budgets with the Tories claiming their budget ensured that the borough council would 'not do a Birmingham' and effectively declare itself bankrupt.

"We will not be raising Council Tax by 21 per cent," said councillor Sam Croft, cabinet member for finance. "We will not be holding a fire sale of our assets just to get through the year.

"We will not be slashing our core services to pay for the mistakes of the past. We will maintain control of our own destiny so that when the people of this borough case their votes, they will be electing councillors who will make the decisions, not elected commissioners.

"It means that we can continue to provide the good government that was so sorely lacking in this borough in the decades up to 2021."

Tabling the Labour amendment to the Tory budget, Cllr Emma Shires said that their amendment was based on listening to residents on the doorsteps. As well as a £5 rise per council band, Labour's budget included bringing in a new customer services assistant at the Town Hall.

Votes were taken and the Labour amended budget was lost with the Tory budget being passed.