TAXPAYERS in Coventry are set to pay more council tax in the next financial year – but the rise will be the smallest in years.
Coventry City Council (CCC) is proposing to increase Council Tax by 3.95 per cent – below the 4.99 per cent maximum allowed by government – equivalent to around £95 extra a year for an average Band D property.
The council had initially budgeted for the maximum rise, which would have increased annual bills by £120.
But an improved government funding package means CCC can afford a smaller rise, while also investing more than £7.7million into local services – the biggest council investment in 15 years.
The council plans to invest in measures to combat crime, anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping, as well as street cleansing and repairs to potholes on roads and defects on pavements – all areas prioritised by residents in a public consultation.
Coun Richard Brown, CCC’s Cabinet Member for Finance and Strategic Resources, said: “We know the difficulties that local people have in managing their own household income. That’s why we have used additional money from the government settlement to keep the Council Tax rise below the maximum allowed.
“We’ve worked hard to carefully manage our finances while dealing with years of austerity and unfair funding. In fact, over the previous five years, we have been forced to save £67million to meet our statutory duty of setting a balanced budget.
“During that time we have lobbied hard for a fairer government settlement, so we are delighted to see the results of our efforts.
“We used more than £2million for a one-off investment to support services including roads and footpaths, street cleaning and tackling fly-tipping last year. That helped ensure that last month Coventry was one of only 16 councils across the country to receive the Department for Transport’s top ‘green’ rating for the state of our roads.
“Now we are putting even more funding into the services that residents have told us matter most to them.”
The Council’s annual Budget Report will be considered by councillors on Tuesday (February 24).
If it is approved, investment plans for 2026-27 include extra waste removals to prevent fly-tipping hotspots, more street cleansing, improving roads and pavements, improving employment opportunities for young people, and investing in ways to tackle anti-social behaviour.
Coun Brown added: “We have already taken action against fly-tipping culprits and will not let up. We have added extra CCTV cameras in the places with the biggest problem, and now we are also looking at ways to educate and help communities by setting up a community skip service in parts of the city.
“Extra neighbourhood wardens will be recruited to deter and act on anti-social behaviour, and we’ll be sending more clean-up teams to deal with street cleansing too.
“We have piloted a scheme in Ball Hill and we have been able to act on fly-tipping response times – which have been cut from five days to one and a half days. We want to repeat this in other neighbourhoods.
“We’ve also found money to refurbish the wonderful Plas Dol-y-Moch – which is an institution for so many Coventry residents. It’s provided 60 years of memories of the great outdoors of North Wales for local kids.
“This investment will mean that the facility remains financially viable and fit for modern use for the future.”
