Council services to continue as Ashfield tax freeze approved

As part of the annual budget, members at full council on March 3 (2025) approved recommendations to freeze council tax for the next 12 months.

This follows a report from the Local Government Association in 2024 highlighting the council’s ‘strong financial position and healthy level of reserves’.

For 2025/26, Ashfield District Council will receive around eight per cent of the income created through council tax which is used to deliver key services in the district, said a council spokesperson.

Some 76 per cent of council tax will go to Nottinghamshire County Council, while 12 per cent will go to the Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner and the remaining four per cent to Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue.

Despite the freeze, the council has reassured residents that its services, which includes its £62.6 million Towns Fund projects, Big Spring Clean initiative and two-hour free parking at its car parks will continue.

Ashfield Council will also freeze its garden waste service cost and will continue with its investments which have equated to more than £200 million over the past five years.

Coun Dave Shaw, supporting cabinet member for finance at Ashfield District Council said: “We are thrilled to be freezing our portion of council tax for 2025/26 for our residents.

“Due to our healthy financial position, it is felt that now is not the right time to add additional financial strain to our residents.

“Thanks to our reserves, we will still be able to deliver some of the best services provided in the East Midlands.

“As a council, we have worked hard over the past eight years to be in this strong financial position and I look forward to discussing this further with colleagues at a later date.”

Coun Jason Zadrozny, leader at Ashfield Council added: “Thanks to our creative, forward-looking business model, we have been able to build healthy reserves which we can use to benefit our residents further.

“We strive to be ‘great’ in all we do, and this is just another example of how we are working hard to support residents in Ashfield.”