Labour will be deliver their election promises to freeze Council Tax and protect adult social care services Councillor Sue Jeffrey, Redcar and Cleveland Council leader said yesterday (February 21st 2016)But Government have made it clear that cash to fund the additional cost of care for the growing number of vulnerable older people in our Borough must be raised locally. This means we have not been able to avoid the “Adult Social Care Precept”, this is a levy of 2% of our Council Tax base.
Overall, Government cuts mean we have less spending power than many wealthier Boroughs in England. We have cut £56m since 2010, we will have a further £7.4m reduction in spending power this year and more to come. In total, in the ten years to the end of the decade Redcar and Cleveland will have had to manage nearly £90m of cuts.
This is grossly unfair particularly in the light of the massive job losses we have experienced including at SSI and Boulby Potash, and what is worse government plans mean more and more we will depend on what cash we can raise from local people and businesses to fund essential services.
Despite this blow I am determined that Redcar and Cleveland will have a prosperous future and will fight to bring new jobs and investment to the Borough, both through the work of the Council and as part of the new Tees Valley Combined Authority.
We will be putting this budget forward at the Full Council Budget meeting on the 1st March. We are a minority party, but we believe that this is a budget for fairness for the people of our Borough”.