Council tax set to go up in Burnley as council sets budget for coming year

The budget sets out investment in major projects over the next five years and a broad approach to balancing the books.

A number of growth items are set out in the proposed revenue budget, including extra funding to tackle homelessness and further improve housing standards; employing an education enforcement officer to work with schools, community groups and others to help create a clean and safe borough; a one-off £20,000 contribution towards re-running the successful Beat the Street health initiative which this year would include an initiative to plant 7,500 in the borough; and £10,000 set aside to help local people mark the King’s Coronation.

Council tax increase

The national government has determined how far district councils such as Burnley can increase the level of council tax. The proposed budget would see Burnley Council working to the limit set nationally, which would mean an increase in household council tax bills of 2.99%.

This approach is in line with that being taken by many other councils and means that Burnley Council’s share of the council tax bill for a Band D property would be £328.01 for the year – an increase of £9.52 from the current level.

The majority of the full council tax bill for a household is made up of payments to Lancashire County Council (to cover work such as education, social services and highways), the police, fire authority and – in areas with a town or parish council – a ‘precept’ to cover their running costs.

The reports highlight that the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on the 2023/24 budget and future years is unknown. The ongoing financial support given to local businesses is helping to support the local economy; however, it is unclear what the impact will be once these support packages end. A reserve has been created in the previous year that would help alleviate these pressures in the coming financial year.

Strong and sensible

Councillor Sue Graham, the council’s executive member for resources and performance management, said: “The council continues to take a strong and sensible approach to balancing our budget while, at the same time, ensuring that we continue to provide high-quality services to residents.

“We have produced a budget based on our priority services but which also supports our core strategic vision to create a cleaner, greener, safer and prosperous borough with a strong local economy.

“We’ve all had to pull in the purse-strings and we understand that any increase in council tax has an impact on the budgets of households across our borough.

“We’ve had to increase our share of the overall council tax bill in order to ensure we can maintain essential services for our residents. However, for the majority of our residents the increase amounts to 14p a week or less.

Exciting projects

“The council is committed to driving forward our borough and a lot is happening. Levelling Up fund investment is funding the creation of new teaching space for the University of Central Lancashire in the former Newtown Mill and driving the Town2Turf regeneration of the Yorkshire Street area which recently started.

“This summer will see the completion of the Pioneer Place cinema and leisure development which will bring more visitors to Burnley and give the local economy another boost.

"We stay committed to being an ambitious council despite the very serious financial challenges facing not just our borough, but the whole country.”

Reports on the current year’s revenue and capital programmes reiterate that the council is confident that they will remain within budget by the end of this financial year in March.

The reports will go to the council’s scrutiny committee, and then to its executive which will make recommendations for final debate and approval of the 2023/24 budget by full council later this month.