Council Budget: Planned increase in car parking charges dropped

Dropping a planned increase in car parking charges and more cash for local roads are among changes to Herefordshire’s spending plans for the year ahead.

At a council cabinet meeting this afternoon (January 25), head of finance Coun Peter Stoddart set out the Conservative administration’s response to a consultation on a draft budget it had presented in early December.

The revised spending plans also take into account an extra £2.5 million the county has been given by the government, from its so-called local government settlement.

This will now cover the cost of the £400,000 forgone from dropping the parking charge increase, as well as the £55,000 that would have been saved by cutting library hours in the county.

A million pounds of the grant will go on bringing forward more housing in the county, while Leominster’s “heritage action zone” will get a further £300,000.

The county is separately getting a further £1.8 million for social care which will go into a “resilience reserve”, and a £950,000 grant specifically for rural services, which will go on drainage, local road repair and bringing public footpaths back into use.

In all, Herefordshire Council now expects to spend £210.5 million in the financial year from April, while increasing council tax by the maximum 4.99 per cent and aiming to make £19 million of savings.

But the budget plan still has to be approved at a full meeting of all county councillors on February 9.

Council leader Coun Jonathan Lester said: “During the consultation process we have listened to residents, businesses and councillors.

“Given the financial position many councils across the country are facing, to be able to propose a balanced budget is a significant achievement.”