Budget and council tax rise of five per cent agreed

Residents living in an average band D property in Blackpool will pay an extra £115 in council tax in the new financial year after an increase of almost five per cent was agreed by the council.

It means band D bills will be £2,392 from April including precepts to pay for the police service and fire service, with the council’s element of the tax rising by 4.99 per cent.

Council leader Coun Lynn Williams defended the increase – the latest rise in recent years – by saying it meant the council was able to protect essential frontline services.

During the annual budget debate, she said while she understood the pressures people faced, she would “not make decisions that erode services on which our residents depend”.

The budget includes savings of £8.6m this year, softened by an extra £17.7m in funding from central government representing an increase of nine per cent in core spending.

The meeting heard the council’s accumulative debt for 2024/25 was £570m but Coun Williams said this was investment in projects which would improve the town’s prosperity.

She used her speech to list projects including the £100m civil service hub which will bring thousands of jobs to the town centre, and said commitment to regeneration would continue.

But opposition leader Coun Paul Galley, leader of the Conservative group on the council, questioned why Blackpool’s council tax was higher than more affluent areas such as Lytham, Poulton and Cheshire East.

He said his research showed nearly three quarters of council tax came from the poorest bands (A and B) with many residents qualify for discounted bills.

Coun Galley also questioned the council’s annual debt repayments which he said were £25m per year to cover interest.

He warned: “It’s ok to say all this investment will make money but we have already highlighted some projects which don’t such as the high ropes at Stanley Park.”

Reform UK councillor Jim O’Neill also criticised the five per cent rise in council tax which came as Blackpool remained “in the top 10 most deprived towns in the UK”.

He said the Conservatives “can’t offer anything better than Labour” and claimed polls showed his party was gaining support because “people don’t have confidence in you any more”.

A recorded vote saw Labour members vote the budget through with 23 votes in favour, and 12 votes against after the Conservatives and Reform UK voted against the proposals, with one abstention from Mayor Coun Peter Hunter.

Council tax 2025/26 Band A £1,594; band B £1,860; band C £2,126; band D £2,392; band E £2,923; band F £3,455; band G £3,987; band H £4,784.