More financial pressure for families as council tax set to rise by almost 5% in Milton Keynes

People all over Milton Keynes will be facing a council tax rise of 4.99% to add to their financial pressures during the cost of living crisis.

The move has been revealed as the council publishes its draft budget for the next year and reveals it has “significant financial issues” to contend with.

In another bid to make ends meet, council house rents will increase by 7% for tenants and 4.1% for shared ownership residents.

"We recognise that this level of increase will be challenging for some of our tenants and therefore we will continue the Working Tenant Support Fund, which we put in place in 2022/23,” the budget papers state.

The cost of cremations and burials in MK will rise by 5% and taxi licencing fees will soar by almost 17% as the council struggles to raise cash for massive predicted increases in its own energy bills.

Officers estimate the electricity bills for council-owned premises will rise by 66% while gas bills will soar by 224%. Meanwhile, council workers will get a pay rise of 4% to recognise their rising costs of running their own homes.

All these figures are quoted in the draft budget, which has yet to be approved. Bu because the council is run by a Labour and Liberal Democrat alliance, with a pact to vote together on budget issues, it cannot be outvoted and is unlikely to change.

The council tax rise includes a 2% precept for adult social care, which costs the council millions each year. Since September 2022, the average weekly cost of an older persons’ care home placement has increased by 18% and, over recent years, the demand for such placements has spiralled too.

Other increasing financial pressures come from homelessness and providing temporary housing for homeless people, say officers.

Meanwhile government grant funding remains uncertain in many areas, they say.

The budget papers state: “It is extremely difficult to predict what impact the current economic challenges, both globally and nationally, are going to have over the medium term, and this represents the most significant financial issue for the council.”

They add: “The context for the 2023/24 budget is severe and the level of uncertainty both nationally and globally is stark.”