We have agreed a balanced budget for 2024/25 that includes almost £15.9m of savings and uses over £6.8m of reserves to help address the funding gap. Despite using reserves we estimate that we will need to make savings of approximately £49.5m over the next five years.
Councillor Gannon, Leader of Gateshead Council, said: "We now have £1,050 less to spend per resident since 2010, having made £207.5m budget cuts over the last 14 years, equivalent to almost 68% of our Net Revenue Budget. Setting a balanced budget is more challenging each year. In Gateshead we've adopted a longer term approach to our strategic and financial planning to give us the best opportunity to minimise the impact of our drastically reduced budget on our residents, manage our debt and replenish our reserves.
"Unfortunately we cannot address some of the fundamental issues affecting our budget. We know the way in which Central Government finances local government is unsustainable and yet demand for our services continues to grow. The support that we give to local communities is vital but we need to be properly resourced to provide the services needed by our residents."
Council Tax will increase by 2.99% with an additional 2% adult social care precept to help meet the growing costs of adult social care. The increase of 4.99% will mean an extra £1.32 per week, or £68.82 per year, for Council Tax payers in the lowest band A properties which make up 59% of properties in Gateshead.
Councillor Gannon said: "When giving councils their funding, the Government assumes we will raise Council Tax to cover any shortfall - this is hugely unfair as it means they are passing on an additional financial burden to those who can't afford it.
"It's particularly unfair to areas like Gateshead as almost 90% of our properties are in the lower Council Tax bands, A-C. Any increase in Council Tax has less impact on our budget meaning our financial gap is bigger when our need is greater. A 1% increase in Council Tax in Gateshead generates an additional £1.1m for us to provide services for local people but in other areas, where more Band D properties are located the increase in income can be much higher, for example a 1% increase in Westminster generates an additional £8m income.
"We know that raising Council Tax will not be a popular decision, but unfortunately, it's one we must make in order to keep providing our services. Our Local Council Tax Support Scheme will continue to help those who are most affected by the increase.
"We will continue to lobby Government to try to ensure local services can be funded in a sustainable and fair way going forward. We know that everyone who lives and works in Gateshead deserves better from the support given by Central Government."
Read more about our budget
22 February 2024
We have agreed a balanced budget for 2024/25 that includes almost £15.9m of savings and uses over £6.8m of reserves to help address the funding gap. Despite using reserves we estimate that we will need to make savings of approximately £49.5m over the next five years.
Councillor Gannon, Leader of Gateshead Council, said: "We now have £1,050 less to spend per resident since 2010, having made £207.5m budget cuts over the last 14 years, equivalent to almost 68% of our Net Revenue Budget. Setting a balanced budget is more challenging each year. In Gateshead we've adopted a longer term approach to our strategic and financial planning to give us the best opportunity to minimise the impact of our drastically reduced budget on our residents, manage our debt and replenish our reserves.
"Unfortunately we cannot address some of the fundamental issues affecting our budget. We know the way in which Central Government finances local government is unsustainable and yet demand for our services continues to grow. The support that we give to local communities is vital but we need to be properly resourced to provide the services needed by our residents."
Council Tax will increase by 2.99% with an additional 2% adult social care precept to help meet the growing costs of adult social care. The increase of 4.99% will mean an extra £1.32 per week, or £68.82 per year, for Council Tax payers in the lowest band A properties which make up 59% of properties in Gateshead.
Councillor Gannon said: "When giving councils their funding, the Government assumes we will raise Council Tax to cover any shortfall - this is hugely unfair as it means they are passing on an additional financial burden to those who can't afford it.
"It's particularly unfair to areas like Gateshead as almost 90% of our properties are in the lower Council Tax bands, A-C. Any increase in Council Tax has less impact on our budget meaning our financial gap is bigger when our need is greater. A 1% increase in Council Tax in Gateshead generates an additional £1.1m for us to provide services for local people but in other areas, where more Band D properties are located the increase in income can be much higher, for example a 1% increase in Westminster generates an additional £8m income.
"We know that raising Council Tax will not be a popular decision, but unfortunately, it's one we must make in order to keep providing our services. Our Local Council Tax Support Scheme will continue to help those who are most affected by the increase.
"We will continue to lobby Government to try to ensure local services can be funded in a sustainable and fair way going forward. We know that everyone who lives and works in Gateshead deserves better from the support given by Central Government."
Read more about our budget
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