Council tax will rise in Hertfordshire by £56 on average for a band D house after a total increase of 3.99 per cent was agreed following a year described as "extraordinary".

Councillors approved the budget for 2021/22 on Tuesday, which includes an increase of two per cent for the adult social care precept and an additional 1.99% for general council tax. This equates to an extra £1.08 a week for average band D households.

The county council decided not to take up the option of increasing the adult social care precept to three per cent this year and will instead collect the remaining one per cent next year in 2022/23.

The adult social care precept funding will be used to help provide support for the vulnerable and for Covid recovery.

Amendments to the budget were unsuccessfully proposed by the Labour and Liberal Democrat groups.

Councillor Ralph Sangster, cabinet member for resources and performance, addressing the council, said: "The fact that we are holding this year's budget debate in virtual reality, is a recognition of the changes we have all had to accommodate in a year, I truly believe, can be described as extraordinary."

He went on to say: "The nation has learned a lot about itself over this last year and so as a council have we. In response to this pandemic, the council has repositioned existing services, established new ones and reinforced and supported external service providers.

"Our work force has had to adapt to new working environments, absorb new technologies and rethink its interaction with colleagues, clients and residents. And with peoples' lives at risk, we did it at breakneck speed in an environment not previously experienced in peace time."

Councillor Sangster told the meeting that the full socio-economic consequences of the Covid virus are impossible to anticipate.

He said: "We remain however, in a good place. We have all the building blocks in place ready to ensure that Hertfordshire's economy sling shots out of the ravages of this pandemic and delivers new jobs, new growth, new opportunities, new innovation, but most importantly, new hope for our residents."

The meeting heard how the council tax base is expected to shrink by 0.6 per cent in the coming year as residents who find themselves in financial difficulty seek relief.

The council tax revenue in 2021/22 is projected to fall by £8.8m, a combination of the reduced tax base and shortfalls in the tax receipts for the current financial year.

Councillor Sangster said the first priority of the budget has been to increase resources for frontline delivery services such as domestic abuse, children in care and the voluntary sector.

An £11.5 fund for pandemic related and systemic inequalities in service provision and will include education, homelessness, employment, gender and ethnicity, social isolation and mental health, domestic abuse, public health, poverty and hunger.

The budget include doubling funding for the council's environment team and a £10m fund to support the overall sustainability programme. A further £2m was allocated to drive forward an action plan for bids for national environmental programmes.

There will be new funding to support active travel and then set up a a £10m fund to manage the impact of climate change on the county's highways.

And a £1m fund will be allocated to maintain the county's rights of way tracks and footpaths to make sure they remain open to residents who have enjoyed using them during lockdown.

Commending the budget to members, councillor Sangster, added: "Although we have faced some dark moments over the past year, the residents of Hertfordshire have been supported throughout by a council which puts its responsibilities to protect their interests front and centre."