Council tax rise agreed but ‘no new cuts’ in budget

Councillors in Haringey have approved a 2.99% increase in council tax bills as part of a budget said to contain no new spending cuts.

The rise, made up of a 1.99% hike in core council tax and a 1% rise in a levy used to fund adult social care, was approved during a full council meeting on Tuesday.

It was signed off alongside a five-year capital programme that included a £46million revamp of the Grade 2-listed civic centre in Wood Green.

The budget earmarked an extra £6m of spending for adults’ services and £6.6m for children’s services during the upcoming financial year.

It also contained investment of £582,000 in a scheme to prevent violence against women and girls, £500,000 for tree maintenance and £300,000 for highways drain cleaning and maintenance.

The Liberal Democrat opposition group tabled a series of budget amendments that proposed an extra £106m to hire 18 youth services staff and an initial £875,000 on an “ongoing education catch-up scheme”.

The Lib Dems also proposed scrapping the civic centre refurbishment and investing the savings to build more cycle lanes, school streets and a new programme of youth centres.

During the full council meeting, members of the Labour group voted down the amendments and in favour of the administration’s budget.

Council leader Peray Ahmet previously said the investment in the civic centre would bring a “treasured local landmark” back into use and “secure its future as a civic headquarters for the council and a local democracy hub for the borough”.

Although the town hall is set to make £11.9m of already-agreed savings over the coming year, the full council report confirmed there were “no new budget reduction proposals”. The council previously said the budget would propose “no new spending reductions for the first time in a decade”.

However, the report reveals the local authority will need to find further savings to close a budget gap that is forecast to grow to £21.5m by 2027.