Herts County Council have admitted they are to raise council tax by 4.99 per cent this year - in a bid to protect vital services.

The council have to find savings of £27.4m while spending £19m of their reserves.

Following a budget meeting of Hertfordshire County Council on 21 February 2023, Councillors have voted to increase Council Tax by 4.99 per cent (including 2 per cent for social care).

This means that a typical Band D household will pay £1,605.63, an increase of £1.47 per week from April this year.

Over the coming financial year, the county council will spend over £1billion delivering essential services to residents and businesses, but due to the increasing pressures caused by inflation, to protect vital services, the council have admitted they will have to raise council tax this year.

The decision to raise council tax comes after the council had exhausted all means of protecting services.

Additional grants from government have softened the scale of the challenge, but the council has also set out plans to deliver savings of £27.4m in the coming financial year, the highest for many years and utilising £19m of our reserves. Even with these measures, a rise in council tax is needed.

Persistently high levels of inflation have had a significant impact on the council's budget, with the knock-on effect of reducing spending power while at the same time, the council is also seeing increased demand for vital services, particularly as households see their own finances stretched.

By increasing Council Tax, the approved budget for the coming financial year will allow the council to protect services to those most in need while also investing in the council's Corporate Plan priorities.

Councillor Richard Roberts, Leader of Hertfordshire County Council, said: "It is with heavy hearts that we find ourselves having to increase council tax, and we haven't taken this decision lightly.

"The alternative to this rise in council tax would have resulted in substantial cuts to some of the very services that are protecting those most in need, and those services helping residents manage the rising cost of living.

"I promised last year that we would do everything we can to protect services, and through sound financial management we have succeeded in closing the deficit in our budget caused by rampant inflation and rising bills.

"This prudence and quick action means that we can fulfil our commitment to the people of Hertfordshire and protect the services that so many tell us are vital."

The budget for 2023/24 reflects commitments made in the council's Corporate Plan, and will see services funded to the tune of £121m extra in 2023/24, including:

£38m to ensure adult care providers can continue to support residents – including funding to ensure, they say that their "excellent care workforce is paid a fair wage for all they do, day in day out, to help those in need," supported by the social care precept

£15m is expected from the extension of the Household Support Fund to support Herts most vulnerable residents with the cost of living

An extra £19m for Children's Services, including an extra £5.2m to support the children in care

£10m for home-to-school transport for children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities to ensure they can get to school easily

£6.4m to support waste disposal services, alongside new contracts that will mean that no waste in the county will go to landfill from 2024.

£4.6m of extra funding into highways revenue budgets to cover inflation and ensure we can continue repairs and maintenance work on Herts roads - plus another £3m next year to help respond to the impact of the cold weather over the winter

£36.4m to continue work to improve recycling centres and make our waste infrastructure fit for the future.

Councillor Bob Deering, Executive Member for Resources and Performance, Hertfordshire County Council said: "I was pleased to present our budget for the 2023/24 financial year. We will be investing an additional £121 million into our services, an increase of 12%, and spending over £1 billion overall.

"Raising council tax has been the last resort to ensure that we can protect and continue to invest in the services that Hertfordshire residents tell us are important.

"By looking at where we can save money and tighten our own belts, and by using reserves previously built up over time we believe we have struck the right balance that will protect those who need us the most, provide the best start in life for our children and continue to make Hertfordshire a place where people want to live, work and invest for the future."

The county council say they are also investing in projects that will ensure future savings, insisting that this investment will lead to projects that will help residents remain independent for longer, keep families together through early intervention schemes and save taxpayers money by transforming partnership working.