Plans to increase county council tax by almost five per cent have been passed – meaning residents face paying around £1.34 a week extra for services such as roads maintenance and social care.

Staffordshire County Council's tax increase includes a rise of two per cent earmarked for social care to help meet rising costs and demand.

And the authority is set to spend more than £600m across all services during 2023/24. Budget plans were presented to the full council at a meeting last Thursday (February 9).

Councillor Ian Parry, cabinet member for finance, said: "You don't need me to tell you this year has been a year of turbulence for this council, for the economy and for the world. The impact that it's had on our budget this year has been pretty well unprecedented, probably more so than during the pandemic.

"The cataclysmic events of war and the implications of that on the global economy, inflation and energy costs have been felt by everyone. But I'd like us to look forward, because we are in a position now where our Medium Term Financial Strategy is balanced over the term which very few councils will be able to say and present.

"We're in a fortunate position to have a balanced budget and be able to make the additional investments in services and future provision that will put us in an even greater position in the future I think. But it's not without its risks and not without its challenges.

District and borough councils collect council tax on behalf of the county council (Sarah Garner).

The key area of risk is the one that always has to be our highest priority. We spend 60% of our council's budget on providing care for those who need us – elderly and children – and this year it's £400m.

"There are no cuts in this budget and there are certainly no cuts that will affect children and adults. On the contrary we're investing in those areas where we've had to invest, in children's services where more children are coming into the care system, and for our elderly with nearly £6m more in additional residential provision and additional resources for demand management.

"Because support and growth in our economy matters, we will be again investing over £100m in our economy and infrastructure projects this year. Overall we will be spending £50m next year in a range of areas to do with maintenance and improvement of our highways, so let's not let it be said this county is not investing where it matters."

To help fund county council services Staffordshire residents will see the tax they pay to the authority rise by 4.99% in April. This means households living in Band D properties will pay £1,471.23 to the county council in 2023/24.

Councillor Parry said: "We have always been a low-spend council, one of the lowest funded councils and a low taxing council. Nevertheless, we realise that at this time when so many families will be struggling, we don't do this lightly.

"We give a commitment that every penny of that we will ensure we spend efficiently and effectively for the good of the people we serve. We will always drive out waste, we will always call it out fast and make sure we get on top of it.

"We have had a reasonable settlement from Government which has been not as bad as we expected. And it means there are some unanswered questions that will need to be answered at some point in the not too distant future around social care and health and the implications in terms of demand management, cost of care and those who have to pay for care."

A named vote was carried out among councillors present at Thursday's meeting and the majority backed the budget. Not all were in favour however and there were five abstentions from Labour members.

Opposition group leader Councillor Charlotte Atkins said: "It will impose pain on our residents trying to make ends during a cost of living crisis that has impacted on so many families. It is hard to justify a nearly five per cent hike in council tax when the county council is delivering yet more cuts in real terms and asking communities more and more to look after their own.

"This approach is not sustainable. Loading social care precepts onto the council tax is a quick fix but council tax is regressive, impacting far more on the poor than the well-off and disadvantaging too less affluent local authorities still further."

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