Blackpool residents face paying an extra £73 in council tax from next month - this is where the extra money will be spent

The council’s executive has agreed to increase its element of the charge by 3.99 per cent – with the decision expected to be ratified by the full council when it meets for its annual budget meeting today.

It means the council will charge residents £1,618.39 at valuation band D in 2020/21 but final bills increase to £1,900 (up from £1,827 last year) when fees to pay for police and fire services are added on.

The council rise of 3.99 per cent includes a two per cent precept to pay for adult social care.

Members of the executive also approved spending on services of just over £142m in the next financial year.

As part of this year’s budget the council is set to invest an additional £14m into children’s services.

A further £5m of cuts is proposed which means overall savings of £19.6m have been found across all services including by making up to 75 redundancies.

Meanwhile neighbouring councils have already set their budgets and announced Council Tax rises.

Fylde councillors unanimously approved an overall Council Tax increase of 1.99 per cent.

The Council Tax increase results in an average of £4.11 per annum for a Band D property equating to an increase of less than 10p per week.

Support was also announced for the Kirkham Town Centre High Street Heritage Action Zone and Wesham regeneration scheme.

Additional support for the Citizens’ Advice Bureau was also announced alongside more staffing for the Splash! water play park and extra cash to maintain and repair bus shelters. Coun

Sue Fazackerley (inset), Fylde Council’s Leader, said: “This is another excellent budget demonstrating Fylde’s prudent and skilful use of the our residents’ Council Tax contributions.

“I am also delighted that we are able to keep our Council Tax increase below the maximum allowed which will be appreciated by all our residents.”

Wyre Council’approved raising Council Tax by £5 a year, or 10p per week on a Band D property.

Coun David Henderson, Leader of Wyre Council said: “We are proud to provide our services to the residents of Wyre for 56p per day, based on a Band D property.

“Over the last 10 years we have lost £7m in funding which is the equivalent of over 78 per cent of our grant back in 2010/11, which was £8.9m.

“We have prepared for this by reducing spending, not increasing the level of borrowing and balancing the books through efficiency savings, income generation and prudent financial management including exploring opportunities.

“We have an excellent track record of delivering efficiency savings which has protected residents from the full impact of reductions in funding.

“We’ve saved over £6m since 2010/11, that’s an average of £670,000 per year and we predict future savings will take us over the £7m mark.

“Communities remain at the heart of everything we do.

“We have launched the Wyre Community Lottery so that we can work together with community groups in the borough to raise much needed funds.

“The initiative will also provide a general good causes fund across Wyre.

“We are launching a website which includes a Citizen Access Portal which will allow Wyre residents access to services online 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“It will enable those who sign up, to receive electronic bills, book services, check the status of any payments due to them and report local issues and track their progress.

“We are also active partners in the Healthier Fleetwood project, helping to reduce social isolation, raise aspirations and improve the health outcomes for local residents.

“Wyre is extremely successful in securing funding from external sources, which allows us to keep investing in the borough.