Enfield Council set its budget for 2018/19 at the meeting of the Full Council at the Civic Centre last night (Wednesday 21 February)
* Reduction in funding by central government means Council needs to make £31m savings by 2019/20, on top of £161m saved since 2010
* Average Band D property will see Council tax increase by £1.42 a week
* Council tax set to rise by 5.01 per cent
Enfield Council has set its budget for 2018/19.
General Council Tax will be increased by 2.99 per cent while Enfield Council has also applied a two per cent Adult Social Care precept in an effort to cover the costs of providing services to the borough’s vulnerable older people, resulting in a total increase of 4.99%.
In all Council tax will increase by a total of 5.01 per cent, once the Mayor of London contribution has been taken into account – a family living in a Band D property would see their bill increasing by £1.42 a week.
Enfield Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance & Efficiency, Cllr Dino Lemonides, said: “We are continually striving to protect frontline services but by 2020 central Government will have cut funding to Enfield Council by 60 per cent in real terms since 2010 so we have been forced to take the difficult decision to increase Council Tax this year.
“We have already delivered £161m of savings since 2010 and need to make a further £31m savings by 2019/2020 at a time of increasing need and demand from a growing population.
“These savings have to be found from an inadequate funding pot. Enfield gets less than £320 per resident compared to some other London boroughs which get more than £500 per resident - making it more difficult for us to make a positive difference and properly fund our services. We will continue to lobby central Government for Fair Funding for Enfield on residents behalf.
“Residents often ask how they can do their bit to protect vital services by helping keep costs down. Over 60,000 people in Enfield already pay their council tax by Direct Debit. It’s the easiest way to pay and saves the Council hundreds of thousands of pounds which can be used to protect frontline services. “
For more information about your 2018/2019 Council Tax please search for Council Tax Guide on our website.