Councillors unanimously back maximum increase in council tax for Dacorum

The increase – the highest allowed without a referendum – means that Band D properties will pay just over £7 more to the borough council, on top of an £89 increase agreed by the county council and an expected £15 increase from the police and crime commissioner.

William Allen (LD), Dacorum Borough Council’s portfolio holder for corporate and commercial services, said the council tax increase is “necessary to keep the council’s income in line with inflationary pressures and rising costs”.

Unusually, all Liberal Democrat, Conservative and Labour councillors agreed to support the council’s budget at its meeting on Wednesday (February 18). It passed without a single vote against.

Cllr Allen said the budget showed “fairness, foresight and prudence” and meant that the council’s finances were “managed well for the benefit of all Dacorum residents”.

But there was criticism from Andrew Williams, leader of the Conservative group, about an apparent lack of detail in how the council plans to spend an additional £1.5m it has received from the government this year.

Dacorum will receive the extra government funding because a Fair Funding Review identified high levels of need in the area. Cllr Williams said: “We have all of that additional £1.5m asked to be agreed … with no papers to tell us what it is being spent on.

“That, to me, is not the way in which we should be setting the budget. We should know some of the ideas it is going to be spent on, and we don’t have that in detail.”

The council’s budget report outlined that the £1.5m would be spent on a Stronger Futures programme to “tackle inequality” and support neighbourhood projects – but the report did not detail which specific projects would be funded.

Cllr Allen said that the council had set out a “direction of travel” for spending the money, but accepted the need to add more “substance”.

He told councillors that the authority would be looking to “reinforce youth provision” in the borough after the government cut funding for the county council, which could affect youth services. Examples of pilot programmes that could be expanded include a youth intervention programme at schools, community safety work in Grovehill, and a future neighbourhoods scheme trial.

Sally Symington (LD), leader of the council, said the council had a “duty” to spend the “windfall” money from the Government on those who are “most in need” in the area. She added: “We know that there are areas across Hemel and across the borough that need investment, and that is what we propose to do.

“We are really, really keen that that money is invested in supporting young people through activities, through mentoring, through work programmes, through placements, to make sure that they have the best chances in life. That is what the Stronger Futures programme is aimed at.”