Great Yarmouth Borough Council agrees balanced budget and sets share of council tax for 2018/19

While the borough council sends out the bills in the borough, council tax also goes to Norfolk County Council, the Police and Fire Services. In areas with parish councils, residents pay a charge for parish council services, which is set by each parish council.

Despite financial challenges across the public sector, Great Yarmouth Borough Council's full council was able to agree a balanced budget, thanks to the council's work to operate as effectively and efficiently as possible, and identify opportunities to generate additional income.

The borough council's Band D charge remains in the lowest quarter of all district councils in the country, yet the council is still able to deliver a range of services, including waste and recycling collection, street cleansing, grounds maintenance, supporting jobs and growth, leisure centres, housing, community work, planning and licensing.  

The Revenue Support Grant from Government is being phased out over the coming years and replaced with a greater reliance on local income sources, with major opportunities for new income linked to unlocking the borough's significant potential for sustainable economic growth and making the most of the council's existing assets.

The council's ongoing work to enhance the borough as an attractive place for business investment and job-creation, and to support delivery of new homes in the right places, remains critical to helping fund vital public services and meeting public priorities.

The council continues to review all of its service delivery, transforming and improving services, and to identify additional opportunities to operate as effectively and efficiently as possible, while driving forward a range of work to boost locally-generated income.

While this good work is continuing to help fund vital services and investment in public priorities, the Local Government Finance Settlement assumes that this will be supported through a greater contribution from local communities.

In line with the assumptions in the Local Government Finance Settlement, full council has agreed to increase the portion of council tax which supports the borough council's services by 3.3 per cent. This equates to £5 extra on a Band D property over the course of a year. However, most local households are in the lowest bands so would pay less than £4 extra over the course of the year for services provided by the borough council.

The most vulnerable people will continue to be protected through the Council Tax Support Scheme, which the council has decided to keep at a maximum of 91.5 per cent of council tax liability.