Five things in Norwich budget 2023 with council tax rise

The council has set out how it is planning to spend taxpayers’ cash in 2023/24, including millions of investments in council homes.

The budget was agreed by the council at a meeting on Tuesday evening. 

Here are five things you need to know about the budget... 

Norwich City Council (Image: Archant)

Your council tax bill will be going up 

The share of your council tax which goes to City Hall will increase by 2.99pc this year - equivalent to £8.38 for a Band D property. 

However, most Norwich residents are within council tax Bands A and B where the annual increase is lower. 

A council tax reduction scheme has been retained, providing relief of up to 100pc on tax bills for those on the lowest incomes. Almost 12,000 people received support last year.

City Hall is one of the few councils in the country to keep the reduction. The Conservative-led West Norfolk Council recently rejected calls to introduce a similar scheme there. 

The city council element for 2022/23 will be - Band A £192.39, Band B £224.46, Band C £ 256.52, Band D £288.59, Band E £352.72, Band F £416.85, Band G £480.98, Band H £577.18. 

This is only the share relating to Norwich City Council.  

Norfolk County Council rubber-stamped its 4.99pc increase in its share of council tax bills on Tuesday and the share going to Norfolk police is rising by 5.2pc. 

The council has had to make some savings 

To balance the books, the council has had to find around £6.2m of savings and extra income. 

The council has blamed low funding from national government - which makes up around 7pc of the authority's funding - as well as rising price inflation and increasing pressure on resources. 

And the future looks equally difficult, with City Hall needing to save another £5.59m over three years starting in 2024.

Council tax bill are going up (Image: Archant)

Council homes 

The council has pledged investment worth £36m this year to upgrade existing properties and build new homes. A total of £182m of investment is expected over the next five years, with plans to build 220 new homes. 

Included in 2023/24 is: 

• £1.9m towards adapting homes for disabled tenants 
• £13.549m for delivering new homes 
• £19.407m for maintaining and improving the condition of existing housing 

Council rents are going up 

Rents at both council homes and garages will increase again this year. 

Council home rents will soar by 7pc for 2023/24, meaning an average weekly rent increase of £5.85 for Norwich social housing tenants. 

Garage rents will increase by 10.1pc.

City investments

The authority has agreed to invest in a range of areas, including:

• £30m for infrastructure projects and investing in skills, redesigning areas of the city centre and supporting the local economy
• £100,000 for the 'Love Norwich Fund' for funding initiatives like rolling out CCTV to fly-tipping hotspots 
• £3.1m for investing in environmental services and public spaces
• Grants totalling £280,000 for arts and cultural organisations

What did council chiefs say?

Alan Waters, the leader of the council, said the budget would allow the council to "meet financial challenges head-on" and invest in what matters to Norwich people.

Paul Kendrick, cabinet member for resources, added that it would protect Norwich people by "extending security and opportunity to every citizen during these tough times".

He said: "You are voting to build hundreds of new environmentally friendly council houses, fight the scourge of absentee landlords, improve our parks and open spaces support the council tax reduction scheme which provides vital assistance and delivers the practical means to play our part in tackling climate change."

The budget was approved 20 votes for, 11 abstained and two against.