Crawley Borough Council’s budget for 2021/22 will protect frontline services and invest in more affordable housing say the council.
The
budget, which was approved at a meeting of Full Council on Wednesday (24
February), will see the council spend £13.6m on council services – a reduction
of £1.1m from last year.
The
council’s 2021/22 capital programme includes:
- £20.5m on housebuilding including Forge Wood and Breezehurst Drive
- £314,000 on IT improvements
- £916,000 on disabled facilities grants
- £89,000 on the Three Bridges Station forecourt improvement scheme.
The council say they have identified additional income, efficiencies and savings of £1.81m, meaning that the council’s element of Council Tax will rise by 2.37 per cent, the equivalent of 9.5p per week for a band D property. This equates to an increase from £208.89 to £213.84 for a band D property.
West Sussex
County Council has agreed a rise of 4.99 per cent (£71.82 on a band D property) and the precept for the Sussex
Police and Crime Commissioner will rise by 7.5 per cent (£15 on a band D
property).
For
every pound paid in Council Tax, West Sussex County Council will receive 78p.
Sussex Police and Crawley Borough Council both receive 11p.
Councillor Peter Lamb, Leader of Crawley Borough Council, said:
“For the last 12 months, all my efforts have been focused on navigating Crawley through the pandemic and tackling the huge financial pressures it has created for the council. With the budget approved, the council can now fully focus on our next challenge: rebuilding our local economy and getting Crawley back to work.”
Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of the Opposition, said:
“This year has been very challenging and we’ve had to make some difficult decisions. Both political groups on the council have worked constructively together and we’ve listened to residents through our extensive consultation, enabling us to pass a budget that keeps the council on a sound financial footing and able to continue providing high quality services for Crawley.”
For more details on Council Tax bandings and ways to pay, visit www.crawley.gov.uk/counciltax