Great Yarmouth Borough Council budget approved and share of Council Tax bills set for 2026/27
At a meeting of Great Yarmouth Borough Council at the Town Hall on February 24 it was agreed to increase the council's portion of borough residents' Council Tax bills by 2.99 per cent.
This means that for an average Band D property in the borough, GYBC's part of the annual Council Tax bill will be £198.25 - an increase of £5.76 (per annum) from last year. This delivers services for residents including housing, waste collection, recycling, planning, licensing and environmental health, car parks, cemeteries and the internal drainage board levy, among other things.
Great Yarmouth Borough Council's share of Council Tax bills represents eight per cent (£198.25) of the total people will pay. Of people's total Council Tax bill, 77 per cent (£1,843.38) goes to Norfolk County Council, 14 per cent (£344.79) to Norfolk Police Authority and one per cent (on average £27.99) to parish councils.
At the meeting, members also agreed that council home rents will increase by 4.8 per cent for 2026/27, which means the weekly rent on a two-bedroomed property will go up, on average, £4.53, from £94.52 to £99.05.
The budget allows for continued investment in the council's housing stock, including a continuation of its energy efficiency programme for the next two years totalling in the region of £10m.
The move comes after Norfolk County Council recently agreed to increase its share of Council Tax by five per cent for 2026/27 and Norfolk Police Authority earlier agreed to increase its share by 4.53 per cent.
For the first time in more than a decade there has been a significant change to the way local councils are funded by the Government - which now takes into account relative deprivation, need and resources as well as providing a three-year settlement. For GYBC this has meant an increase of 14.7 per cent over the next three years compared to 2024/25. However, this is still low compared to the average increase across the sector of 24.3 per cent.
The council's overall net budget for 2026/27 is in the region of £17.5m.
To ensure its budget is balanced, members agreed that over the next financial year the borough council plans to make savings of £150,000 and use £214,000 from its reserves.
Councillor Carl Smith, leader of GYBC, said: ''Despite the challenging financial landscape, we have been able to produce a prudent and balanced budget. We have ensured we can continue to deliver cost-effective services for our residents, even if it is hard to understand why our settlement from the Government should be almost ten per cent less than some other deprived parts of the country.''
