Council tax in Barking and Dagenham set to be frozen

Council tax in Barking and Dagenham is set to be frozen for the sixth consecutive year.

Although the council is set to receive less government funding then in previous years it has decided to use its reserves to offset the gap in its finances, rather than increasing the tax on residents.

The borough will also receive a grant of £545,000 from the government for freezing council tax, which will help keep tax for a band D property at £1,016.40.

The proposal to freeze council tax is expected to be passed at a cabinet meeting due to be held tomorrow night, which will also include discussion of details on the council’s financial strategy up until 2018.

Although savings of £7.749m have been approved for 2014/15 alone, tough times are likely to be ahead.

The council has had to factor in a £11.2 million drop in government funding in 2014/15 along with a further drop of £19.2 million in 2015/16.

A report by Kathy Freeman, group manager for corporate finance, states funding changes including the introduction of the Care Bill and Children and Families Bill, plus the abolition of the local welfare provision scheme in 2015/16 could result in a worst-possible scenario of a £39m gap in funding.

Better news is available to business owners who can receive a discount of up to £1,000 on their business rates if their property is worth up to £50,000.

For more news about the council budget, pick up a copy of next week’s paper.