Budget: Brighton and Hove City Council cut tax on the poor

Those on low incomes will have their bills slashed if the Green Party plans for the 2021/22 budget go ahead.

Increased parking fees in zones across the city will also not apply to the poorest households, with hardship funds also raised to help people in an emergency.

It is part of the Brighton and Hove’s yearly financial budget for 2021/22 that “focuses on survival”.

The budget, along with a number of Conservative proposals, including huge new Amsterdam-like signs to boost tourism, will be debated at a major meeting on Thursday, February 25. However, if the budget is approved, residents will face a 4.99 per cent rise in council tax, including a 3 per cent adult social care precept.

READ MORE >> Council budget: Readers slam Tory proposals for signs

Together with tax base changes, the council plans to generate resources of £5.367 million. To balance its books, the local authority will need to save £10.644 million.

The Green budget proposal reads: “The budget proposed for 2021/22 is therefore one that focuses on survival as the country and the city hopefully emerges from the pandemic.

“The budget proposals aim to maintain the financial resilience of the council while also ensuring that the council is able to support recovery and renewal across the city by underpinning support for vulnerable people and those in hardship.

The budget will be decided at a meeting on Thursday February 25

“The budget also focuses on using public funds for the benefit of the local economy, investing in a cleaner, more sustainable city, and substantially investing in housing provision to continue to alleviate homelessness, which could otherwise result in longer term costs for the council and the city.

“By investing in active travel, energy efficiency and green spaces, the budget proposals support the drive for improved air quality and promotes public health by providing the means to exercise and use alternative forms of transport.”

In total, there are proposed ongoing investments of £22.270 million and one-off investments of £2.387 million in the city. £298,000 will be spent to “support recovery and renewal”, including £100,000 for graffiti removal and £74,000 to “support the Madeira Terraces project”.

A total of £19.143 million will be invested to “support a stronger, healthy and caring city”, including £45,000 for the creation of a new Disability Officer post.

£55,000 will also be spent on cleansing for the A27 bypass.

£837,000 will be invested into climate action and sustainability, with provision for a carbon reduction contract monitoring post to enforce contractual compliance to cost £47,000.

The budget plan reads: “The Covid-19 pandemic has caused an enormous financial shock to the whole economy, impacting people and businesses across all sectors, including the public sector.

“Following 10 years of government grant funding reductions, local authority core grant funding is now a small element of their overall funding and local authorities therefore increasingly rely on local taxation revenues and other sources of income including fees and charges. The corollary of this is that, compared with most of the public sector, the pandemic greatly impacted the finances of local authorities.”