Lincolnshire County Council, North Kesteven District Council and South Kesteven District Council plan to raise council tax to combat financial pressures

Two district councils and a county council are set to increase their council tax bills due to economic pressures.

Also grappling with escalating costs and high demand for key services, South Kesteven District Council has proposed a 3% increase in council tax this year.

If approved, band D property owners will incur an additional annual cost of £5.31.

While acknowledging the ongoing struggles many families face with the cost of living crisis, newly elected leader Ashley Baxter defended the increase, attributing the financial pressure to over a decade of underfunding by the Conservative government at Westminster.

He said: “They have deliberately under-resourced local authorities. “I don’t want to put council tax up, but if we don’t, then we lose the ability to deliver services. If we want to meet all the ambitions within the Corporate Plan, then we need to find resources.”

Neighbouring North Kesteven District Council is considering a 2.68% hike.

This would result in band D property owners paying £189.45, an increase of £4.95 from the £184.50 residents were charged in the 2023 to 2024 financial year.

While some viewed the local government financial settlement as disappointing, North Kesteven District Council leader Richard Wright described it as “welcomed clarity.”

He said: “The finance settlement is less than we might have hoped and remains challenging for local government, giving an average uplift in spending power of just 4.9% set against a costs increase of 6.5% in cash-terms across the local authority sector.

“But having anticipated these and similar financial considerations over several years, we have, at North Kesteven, established a strategy that builds a strong financial base with capacity to invest in priorities and services and mitigates against volatility in such settlements.”

Lincolnshire County Council is planning a 5% council tax increase.

Despite the central government allocating an additional £600 million to support UK councils facing escalating costs, particularly in adult and child social care, Lincolnshire County Council has confirmed it is “pressing ahead” with its proposed 5% increase.

If approved, this increase would raise the council tax for band D properties to £1,578.69 for the 2024 to 2025 period. This represents an additional £55.06 compared to last year, or an extra £1.44 per property each week.

Leader Martin Hill said the council was “under a lot of pressure,” like “most of local government” is, but said that difficult decisions had to be made in order to plug spending gaps.

“Keeping in mind the pressure that households are under, in particular with inflation and other things going on, we want to try and keep the council tax as low as possible,” he said.