Craven District Council has approved a fully funded and balanced Revenue Budget of £6,735,044 for 2019/20.

Councillors approved an increase of council tax at Band D by £5 a year to £172.21, at a meeting of Full Council on February 26.

Council tax was frozen in Craven for five years in a row but has been increased by £5 in each of the last three budgets, as the Government has removed the Council Tax Freeze Grant and has reduced the Revenue Support Grant down to zero by April 2019.

The overall Revenue Support Grant from the Government for the council this year is zero, down from £141,000 in 2018/19.

Councillor Richard Foster, Leader of the Council said: “We will continue to provide excellent services for our residents, for just £3.31 per week for the average household.

“Your £3.31 per week helps us to provide a wide range of services including bin collections, street cleansing, environmental health, planning, economic development, community events, and Craven Leisure, as well as Skipton Town Hall and Craven Museum & Gallery, which are currently undergoing major renovations to provide state-of-the-art facilities for future generations.

“Over the past year, we have continued to maintain and develop services and create ambitious plans for the future. We are striving to cut costs and increase income wherever possible, and have made savings of £29,800 over the last year.

“When we consulted residents over our Budget they told us that the services we provide are important to them, and there was a high level of support for our current priorities.

“There was also a good level of support for increasing council tax. Taking these views into account, we feel the best option to maintain services within Craven, is to increase council tax by a small amount – less than 10p a week for the average household.

“This year is unprecedented for local government – our revenue support grant from the Government has now completely disappeared. This puts councils under huge pressures so we are proud to have put forward a robust and balanced budget.

“To avoid cuts to services, we will also use ££50,000 of the New Homes Bonus in 2019/20, to support the budget in the short term.”

The proposed budget will be funded by the council’s projected revenues and a contribution from the council’s reserves. The council will maintain a General Fund Balance of £995,000 for unforeseen outgoings.

Craven District Council’s element of the Council Tax bill makes up less than 10 per cent of the total. In 2019/20 this will equate to £3.31 per week for district council services for an average Band D property. Other authorities (the county council, police, fire service and parishes) set their own rates for their proportion and this is collected on their behalf by Craven District Council.