Maximum council tax increase will go towards funding adult social care in Kirklees

Councillor Shabir Pandor (Lab, Batley West) said the authority is prepared to do whatever is needed to safeguard the most vulnerable in the community – and that means potentially increasing bills by as much as five per cent.

He was responding to calls from Conservatives who invited him to “level” with the people of the borough over how much they might pay in the coming year.

Local authorities in England such as Kirklees will be able to put up council tax by 5% from April 1. More than half – 3% – will be used to top up adult social care budgets.

Referencing Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer, who said the “absurd” high increases should be scrapped, senior Tory Coun David Hall (Con, Liversedge and Gomersal) suggested a 5% rise in Kirklees would be “irresponsible”.

He said Labour should set a more efficient budget, reduce the level of the council tax rise and to seek efficiencies in other areas to keep costs down.

He said: “The leader is the person who has the power to directly influence in Kirklees the level of the council tax. So it’s up to him to back his leader and keep council tax down. Will he vow to do so?”

Rejecting the suggestion, Coun Pandor said adult social care had not been properly funded by government, meaning local authorities such as Kirklees bore the responsibility for it.

He said: “We can raise it up to a maximum of 2% plus 3%, so the [extra] 3% that we will raise – if we do raise it to the maximum – will purely go on adult social care. ”

He outlined a £4bn funding gap around key areas such as adult social care and children’s services, which local authorities were faced with plugging.

And he described the 33% rise in council tax since the Conservatives came to power as “completely unacceptable”.

He said: “We’ve got a very clear choice. Either we set a budget and look forward to a future settlement and make sure that we have a viable future, so unlike other local authorities we don’t keel over.

“Or we set a budget that is based on a whim and very little evidence, advice and guidance.

“I’m not going to fly kites and make our residents feel that I can do something that will actually cause this council to collapse.

“We will do the right thing to make sure this council is sustained and delivers its services into the long term.”

He said such a move would sustain the council “financially, operationally and reputationally”.

Speaking after the meeting Coun Hall said: “Many families in Kirklees are going through enormous financial hardship at the present time due to the pandemic.

“The Labour administration must pledge to keep the council tax low this year, as a 5% rise would mean an extra £92 per year for an average household. This is money which is unavailable to many people, who have other urgent household bills to pay.

Coun Pandor leads this council and has the ultimate responsibility for the council tax set. People will not forgive him ratcheting up council tax at a time when people are least able to pay.”