ST HELENS Borough Council cabinet has approved plans to increase council tax by 4.99 per cent in 2021/22. Cabinet members voted unanimously to approve the plans during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, February 24, which will see residents face a 4.99 per cent increase this year, with a rise of 3.99 per cent for each subsequent year. The proposed changes will mean an annual council tax bill of £1,578.78 will apply to Band D properties. In 2020/21, a Band D property cost £1,503.75 – meaning the increase will cost the average property £75.03. The cabinet also agreed there will be no change to the council tax reduction scheme until the next financial year, when the “full impact” of COVID-19 is known.
The car park is set to be demolished CAMPAIGNERS have welcomed the move to demolish a multi-storey car park to make use of Sankey Canal as a more prominent feature of the town centre. As the Star has previously reported, St Helens Council s cabinet agreed plans to use £1m of funding from central government in advance of a Town Deal to demolish the car park. The council regards the car park as a “key site for transformation”. They believe demolishing it will create opportunities to make the Sankey Canal more visible for the rest of the town centre and also as an attractive redevelopment site.
St Helens Council to launch consultation over £22m budget cuts MUCH-LOVED public services will inevitably be affected by massive cuts coming next year, the leader of St Helens Borough Council has warned. The council is projecting a £20.4 million budget gap for 2021-2022, although this could potentially widen even further due to the ongoing Covid crisis. A council tax rise of 4.99 per cent – which includes a 3 per cent adult social care levy – is almost certain to be approved by the Labour-controlled authority later this year given the perilous position the authority finds itself in. But this will only go so far in addressing the council’s financial woes, and certainly won’t be enough to allow it to deliver a balanced budget in 2021-2022.