Households in Cambridgeshire will see council tax bills rise after Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC) agreed to increase its share of council tax by 4.99 per cent. 

The rise was approved at a full council meeting on February 7.

It includes a two per cent precept for adult social care and is the maximum amount allowed by government before triggering a local referendum. 

Band D households will pay an extra £73 a year, which amounts to £1.41 a week, and a Band C household will see a £65 increase for the year.  

Cllr Lucy Nethsingha, leader of CCC, said the budget had been put together against a “difficult financial backdrop”. 

She said: “Our financial situation this year was more challenging than ever. 

“This time last year we projected that we needed to find £17m of savings, national and world events saw that double to over £30m by last autumn.” 

Cllr Nethsingha said the authority also saw increased demand for council services in the same period. 

She highlighted that CCC was planning to continue investment to provide free school meals vouchers, and in social care. 

CCC’s share of council tax 2023/24 

  • Band A - £49 
  • Band B - £57 
  • Band C - £65 
  • Band D - £73 
  • Band E - £90 
  • Band F - £106 
  • Band G - £122 
  • Band H - £147 

Cllr Elisa Meschini, deputy leader of CCC, said councillors were “extremely aware” of how “hard hitting” the increase in council tax would be for many as she said there were councillors who had also faced the problems people in the community faced. 

She said: “We have got people who absolutely know what it is like to live a life completely choked by the expense of private rent, a life completely choked by the absence of the benefits you are entitled to, a life choked by the inability to provide for your dependents, and a life choked by health spending. 

“All of these things exist on these benches because they exist out there in our county.” 

She added: “We remain committed to what we intend to achieve with this increase in tax, because it comes exactly in order for us to be able to cushion the blow on those who are least able to afford it.” 

Conservative amendment - ‘tax increase should be last resort’ 

Cllr Steve Count, leader of the Conservative opposition, said CCC had to deliver care services and protect the vulnerable, but said it must also make the organisation “efficient” and “only as a last resort” should a tax increase be considered. 

The Conservative group put forward an amendment to the budget, which included that council tax should be increased by four percent rather than 4.99 per cent. 

It also called for £5m investment in road maintenance over the next five years, as well as £2.5m into flood defence and £1.25m into communities through a cultivate fund. 

Cllr Alan Sharp (Conservative) said he was sure all councillors agreed that Cambridgeshire “suffers from unfair funding”, but said the authority had to ‘deal with what it has’. 

Cllr Steve Tierney (Conservative) said he did not believe the amendment ‘went far enough’ saying he would have preferred to see a council tax freeze, but said it was the better option of the two. 

The Conservative amendment failed to receive enough support to be accepted by the authority. 

When the joint administration’s budget was put to a vote, the majority of councillors voted in favour of approving it.