Councillors in Nuneaton and Bedworth have agreed a balanced budget for the 2024/25 financial year.
This comes after a tumultuous year for local government finance, in which a number of councils have confirmed significant budget issues and in which Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council has faced some tough decisions.
Key measures, including careful management of recruitment, have helped ensure budget control after a draft budget deficit for 2024/25 of £4million was forecast in December 2023.
Other factors that have contributed include increased income from business rates and the easing of the international economic situation.
The Borough Council is now projecting an underspend of around £250,000 for the 2023/24 financial year.
A Council Tax rise equivalent to an increase of 2.99 per cent and a charge of £263.59 for a household at band D, an increase of £7.65, has now been agreed by the Council.
This charge will be added to precepts charged by Warwickshire County Council and the Office of the Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner to make the Council Tax bill that households receive.
Most households in the Borough will pay a lower charge than this, as around 75 per cent are in Council Tax bands A, B or C.
Councillors on the ruling Cabinet agreed to a net expenditure budget of £19.1million at their meeting on Wednesday (21 February). The budget also sets out its detailed spending plans for each service area. This was then ratified at the Full Council meeting the same evening.
These spending plans include additional funding to combat anti-social behaviour and additional cleansing around the borough’s streets, in the River Anker and in both Nuneaton and Bedworth town centres.
Capital spending is projected to be £54million on the General Fund, and a detailed update to the borough’s regeneration programme has been published, showing what that money will be spent on.
Council housing rents will increase by 7.7 per cent, which adheres to the formula allowed by government of one per cent plus the Consumer Price Index.
The Housing Revenue Account for the current year is projected to balance at a net zero position. Total income projections for housing for 2024/25 are set at £31.3million.
Portfolio Holder for Corporate Services, Cllr Sam Croft, said:
“This administration has produced a strong budget that secures the future of Nuneaton and Bedworth.
“We have managed our finances to ensure the Borough Council’s long-term viability while still pursuing our goals of regenerating our towns, maintaining law and order, and reviving civic pride in the borough.
“To do this, we have adopted a new, more transparent approach to accounting and a more professional method for setting budgets, the result of which has been greater control of our finances.
“We have also taken tough decisions in the past year to put us in a more robust position and ensure that we are in no danger of declaring bankruptcy through a Section 114 notice, as other councils have done.
“The Borough Council has published a detailed explanation of our current position and our plans for the coming year.
“I believe this budget setting puts us on a much sounder footing for years to come without compromising our goals to improve people's lives.”