Mansfield Council approves 2.99 per cent council tax rise

The 2.99 per cent increase from April will mean homes in council tax band A, which make up for just over half of all homes in the district, will face an annual increase of £4.

Bills for band B households, which make up 19 per cent of homes, will rise by £4.66, while, band C (14 per cent of homes) will increase by £5.33, and band D (eight per cent) will rise by £6.

Council tax for band H (0.06 per cent), the highest band, would increase by £11.99 annually.

Coun Craig Whitby (Lab), deputy mayor and portfolio holder for corporate and finance, presented the draft budget for the coming financial year at a full council meeting on February 4.

He said the budget will put Mansfield council on a ‘stronger financial footing’ while meeting the needs of residents.

He said: “This is never a simple task and local Government finances remain in a fragile state after 14 years of neglect.

“We’ve all seen the headlines, one in five councils across the country are warning they may face bankruptcy in the next two years.

“This is the reality of the system that has been broken for far too long.

“In Mansfield we met these challenges head on.

“We’ve taken proactive steps to reduce the exposure to long-term risk, and this budget is proof of that.

“When we began setting last year’s budget, the projected deficit over three years stood at £5.4m.

“Through strong financial oversight and a focus on reducing our long-term deficit, we have halved that gap – putting Mansfield on an even stronger financial footing.”

Through spending cuts and cost-saving measures, the authority says it will manage to plug a £2.2m gap by March 2028.

He said that freezing council tax in previous years – as happened in 2023 – had been an ‘urgent relief’ for residents at the time, but left the council in a ‘weaker financial position’.

He added: “That short-sighted approach is why we face the challenges we do today.”

He said balancing the budget was achieved through carefully ‘managing vacancies and staffing costs to avoid unnecessary redundancies’, finding ‘efficiencies that protect core services without impacting frontline support’, and making ‘smart, sustainable choices to avoid financial shocks’ in the oncoming years.

Coun Whitby said his top priority was to protect funding for community safety officers and ‘invest in safety’ for Mansfield residents.

Coun Martin Wright (Ref) said he would not supporting the tax increase and accused Coun Whitby of putting a ‘bombshell’ on the council with the budget proposal.

He said: “This year he has little choice but to increase council tax after being let down by his own Chancellor’s decision to increase employer National Insurance.

“The Chancellor has left the council with a huge National Insurance bill of £166,000 – a shortfall of £333,000.

“The £240,000 surplus generated from the New Homes Bonus will immediately be swallowed up by the need to deliver a balanced budget.

“There will still be a shortfall of a £120,000 – this is where the council tax increase of 2.99 per cent will deliver £188,000, of which £120,000 is needed to balance the budget.

“I certainly will not support the increase of council tax.”

Coun Nigel Moxon (Con) said he would abstain on the vote, adding: “Let me take you back to March 2023, Kier Starmer said Labour would freeze council tax.

"Fast-forward to two years and we are here discussing a budget with a ‘modest’ 2.99 per cent rise.

“Other council’s are increasing beyond the limit, could this be a sign of things to come in the future?”

Overall the Labour-led council voted in favour of the medium term financial plan 2025-26 to 2027-28, with six abstentions and two who voted against it.

Final household council tax bills in Nottinghamshire include portions for either the county or city council, plus a district or borough council and contributions for the police and fire services.

All these authorities are now setting rates for the year ahead.

The final total bills known will be known in March.