Households in Newcastle will be hit with a 4% council tax hike, while council bosses have signed off on £23m of budget cuts.
Leaders agreed financial plans on Wednesday that will also see more than 50 jobs axed at Newcastle City Council. Car parking charges will rise and social services will have to reduce their spending by £6m, while local authority bosses rejected calls to reinstate free parking for disabled blue badge holders and delay the closure of a council depot in the East End.
Labour councillor Paul Frew, the council’s cabinet member for finance, blamed a “litany of Government failures” since 2010 for the dire financial circumstances facing the authority, which has had its annual budget slashed by £341m since 2010. He said that a 3.99% council tax rise, which includes a 2% adult social care precept, was a decision “not taken lightly” and was “entirely necessary” to cover rising costs in care services.
