Stafford Borough Council approves 2.99% tax rise - despite calls for lower amount
A 2.99% tax rise has been approved by Stafford Borough Council – despite calls to increase it by just 0.5%.
Residents in Band D properties will see their Stafford Borough council tax go up by around 10p a week, with the annual bill rising from £178.75 to £184.09, for services including bin collections and open spaces maintenance.
This is just part of the overall council tax bill residents receive each year however. The tax paid for Staffordshire County Council services, including roads maintenance and social care, is set to go up by 3.99%, while police and fire service precepts will both increase by more than 5% from April.
Members of Stafford Borough Council approved their authority’s budget for 2026/27 at a meeting on Tuesday (February 10). Ralph Cooke, cabinet member for resources, told fellow councillors: “The Government is expecting (district and borough) authorities to go up to the 2.99% level. There could be problems in future years if we don’t do that and we could be setting up trouble for ourselves if we don’t.
“The council bought the Civic Office and therefore the base budget has been reduced by £776,000 to reflect rent we no longer need to pay. The 2025/26 forecast outturn is an estimated £1.6m surplus against the profiled budget.
“The most serious risk problems are recruitment difficulties – these challenges can have a negative impact on service delivery – this is going to be an issue until local government reorganisation is resolved. There is also additional work local government reorganisation is going to generate on staff.
“We are continuing the demolition of the former Co-op Department Store and Guildhall Shopping Centre, while we will also be refurbishing street furniture and utilising bin storage in the town centres. There is around £1.5m of extra support being rolled out for local businesses following our successful High Street Boost scheme.”
The Conservative opposition group put forward alternative budget proposals, which would have seen a 0.5% council tax rise instead. They also called for feasibility studies for a new car park in Eccleshall and a new learner pool at Stone Leisure Centre, at a cost of £30,000 each, as well as a rural business start up grant scheme worth £100,000 and £2,500 per councillor to distribute as grants in their areas, all to be funded through reductions in the contribution to the budget support reserve for 2026/27.
The alternative budget proposed a freeze on council car park charges too. But this was already part of the authority’s fees and charges review for 2026/27, which was approved later on during Tuesday’s meeting.
Councillor Mark Winnington, who presented the proposals, said: “It’s OK for the cabinet member to say that (council tax is increasing) by one or two pence per day, but when families are overstretched, another one, two or three pence per day over a year may buy food. We think the council tax should only be increased by 0.5%.
“We think car parking charges should be frozen because we need people in towns shopping, and for people to be able to travel back and forwards without worrying about parking charges. Everybody who has been in Eccleshall in the last six to eight months will realise a big problem is car parking – if you increase the number of houses it is going to be a no-go area.
“We have had some national horror stories where people have drowned in the sea. We should be maintaining the capacity to teach not just children, but older people to swim.”
The alternative budget plans failed to gain sufficient support to be referred to the council’s cabinet for further consideration. Councillor Jill Hood said: “Stone residents and Stone Town Council begged for a learner pool.
“But you were so desperate to get M&S onto Westbridge Park, suddenly there was no scope. What are you suggesting now – we knock down the Pump House or the new Guide Hut to make way for a learner pool?
“Every school in the surrounding area goes to Stone Leisure Centre for the pool. There is no need for a training pool and we don’t have space for a learner pool.”
Councillor Scott Spencer said: “On the feasibility study for an Eccleshall car park, I feel this may worsen the overdevelopment by creating capacity for additional cars to go into Eccleshall. I would like to see a feasibility study encouraging public transport use, rather than encouraging more cars to come to Eccleshall which could encourage developers to put more houses in Eccleshall.”
