Your guide to Council Tax
Contents
How we spend our budget - A message from Cllr Tracey Dixon, Leader of the Council
You may not notice it, but you interact with council services day in day out. The roads you travel on, the paths you walk on, the lamps that light up our streets, businesses you may use, the parks, beaches or open spaces you might visit and many more. From the minute you step outside your home council services and the individuals that provide them are doing all they can to help you in your everyday life.
Your council provides a wide range of services for over 150,000 people in South Tyneside. From bin collections, customer services, business support, leisure centres, libraries, fostering and adoption services, social care for adults and children and many more.
We also provide a safety net for those who need it most and at no other time has that been more important than over the last year during the coronavirus pandemic. Your council has been there to support residents and businesses through hardship and crisis, as we do all year round, whilst still providing the vital services that you rely on.
The money we spend comes from council tax, business rates and paid services as well as the government grant we receive each year. Government funding has dramatically reduced in recent years and continues to do so putting huge pressures on our finances. Since 2010 we have had to save £175m already with another £8m to save in 2021/22.
Every year we have to find ways of doing more with fewer resources. 2021 is no different, our finances will be squeezed ever tighter.
We have already made significant changes to the way we work and dramatically reduced our workforce meaning that we are leaner and more efficient, but it doesn't leave us with much room for manoeuvre. Despite our limited finances demand for our services continues to grow, especially in areas like children's and adults social care which accounts for some 67% of our discretionary budget.
The budget has been calculated incorporating an increase of 3.95% in Council Tax in 2021/22. This is a combination of a 0.95% council tax increase and the Government's adult social care levy of 3% which is ringfenced to help deliver those services. The bill issued by the Council includes separate amounts levied by other statutory bodies such as police and fire.
We are working hard to make council tax more affordable for those in receipt of council tax support. As in 20/21, working age households in receipt of council tax support will receive a reduction of up to £150 in the annual council tax which they have to pay.
We must set a fair and balanced budget and one that works for the communities of South Tyneside. Unlike other public bodies Local Government cannot run a deficit. If we do not balance the budget then the Government will balance it for us and this may not take into account local needs or the priorities of residents.
Although we cannot do everything we would like to, it is important that we have priorities that are guided by the people of South Tyneside. A 'Regenerated South Tyneside with Increased Businesses and Jobs' remains a top priority for residents and that is why we focus much of our capital spend on creating jobs for local people. Investment is financed by a mixture of external funding, Government grants, borrowing and capital receipts from sales of assets.
As well as delivering those services that your council tax pays for, we try to harness all available external funding to bring as much investment as we can to South Tyneside and ensure that every pound counts. This includes delivering innovative energy efficiency projects to help meet our climate change commitments.
We have an economic recovery plan in place and will lead the Borough's economic recovery so we come back even stronger as we will continue to aim high with our ambitious plans for South Tyneside.
Despite our pressures we are determined to continue to protect and improve the services that you rely on. We are committed to doing all we can for the people of our Borough. We will continue to improve and stay focused on not only delivering for, but also standing up for, the people of South Tyneside as we move into a post covid world.
Councillor Tracey Dixon
Leader of the Council
Read last year's guide to Council Tax (2020/2021).