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Council tax set to rise by maximum amount

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Sheffield councillors have approved the maximum rise in council tax

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Council tax in Sheffield will rise by the maximum amount of 4.99%, the city council has said.

It said it had to find an additional £79m over the next financial year, of which £49m related to social care costs, to balance the books.

The authority said those pressures were due to rising demand and a fall in government funding.

The government has previously said it is providing almost £65bn to councils in recognition of the challenges they face.

Council leader Tom Hunt said: “Other councils are in a difficult position but we are not because we are prudently and responsibly managing every single pound of public money that we oversee.”

He said they had taken some “difficult decisions” to deliver a balanced budget for 2024 to 2025.

The agreed tax rise includes a 2.99% for social care.

It will mean Band A properties, which make up 60% of homes in Sheffield, will see an increase of £1.17 per week.

The authority has also announced a review of its 100 community centres, starting with 22 of them.

It has also said it can no longer afford to fund the 4,000 properties, including the Town Hall, it owns and maintains.

'Not sustainable'

Mr Hunt said “more support” was needed from government at a time when costs were rising and funding was falling.

“That is not sustainable, the government must recognise the peril that local government as a sector is in and provide more support.”

He said the city had faced a decade of cuts and it now had £858 per household less to spend compared with 2010.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said government support for councils had been increased by 7.5% to £64.7bn for the next financial year in recognition of the challenges they face.

An additional £500m was announced for councils in January to help fund children's and adult social care.

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