People living in Westmorland & Furness will face a 4.99% council tax increase and be charged for their garden waste after the local authority approved its budget for the next 12 months.
Members agreed the budget for Westmorland & Furness Council yesterday.
The authority said it had no choice but to pass increases onto taxpayers, as it claims its Government funding had been cut – which it said was equivalent to each household in the region losing £400.
Cllr Andrew Jarvis, deputy leader and cabinet member for finance, said: “Our council has suffered grievously in the Government’s funding settlement.
“Given the scale and loss of funding from the Government which is circa £43 million over the next three years, we have had no choice but to recommend the implementation of increased council tax and charges that will sadly affect every resident in the Westmorland and Furness area.”
Councillors at Westmorland and Furness Council agreed to a 4.99% council tax increase alongside:
- A new annual charge of £60 per bin for garden waste collections. This charge will only be applied to residents who choose to use the service and will be managed through an annual subscription.
- Car park charges will be increased by around 10%.
- Increases in the charges for the use of Windermere Ferry, and the removal of the Blue Badge exemption
- Other fees and charges increase in line with inflation.
Cllr Jarvis added: “This has been a difficult budget to propose and vote through. It includes changes to charges that we would have all preferred to have avoided. It also includes a series of workforce savings of circa £5million that includes a reshaping of our senior management team.
“Reductions to our workforce is not easy or ideal. We have a hardworking, committed workforce who are focused on providing essential services to our residents and this budget lets us retain all front-line services.
“Implementing changes that affect our residents and our staff are always hard and challenging, but this is something we must do now if we are to continue to balance our budget and provide the level of service our residents deserve.”
However, the council’s Labour group said it could not support the budget as it hit struggling residents the hardest. Its members voted against the proposals from the Liberal Democrat-run authority.
Labour group leader Derek Brook said: “The Liberal Democrats will try to say that savings and cost increases in this budget are the fault of the Labour government.
“We say the Government is not responsible for the council’s financial mismanagement, lack of transformation, or poor governance.
“Council tax has increased by the maximum amount every year since Westmorland and Furness Council was created, and that was a choice made by this administration.
“We cannot support a budget built behind closed doors and paid for by those already under the most pressure. Residents are being asked to pay more for less, and that is something we cannot endorse.”
Westmorland & Furness Council said the Government’s proposed new funding formula failed to recognise the higher costs of service delivery in rural areas and the significant impact the proposed reduction would have on services.It said the changes will create a funding gap of £11m for 2026/27, £25m for 2027/28 and £40m by 2028/29.
The Labour Government published its provisional settlements in December.
It decided to give councils multi-year settlements rather than paying out over individual years.
In 2024-2025, it said Westmorland & Furness Council core spending power – a standard measure used by government to assess councils’ overall funding – was £284.7 million.
Its figures show that Westmorland & Furness Council’s core spending power – will be as follows:
- 2025-2026: £309.9 million
- 2026-2027: £314.1 million
- 2027-2028: £315.9 million
- 2028-2029: £318.8 million
From this year, it will also benefit from the Fair Funding reset, which updates how funding is distributed so it better reflects deprivation, rural delivery costs and social care pressures. The allocation tapers over time as temporary protections are unwound.It is as follows:
- 2026-2027: £110.5 million
- 2027-2028: £96.3 million
- 2028-2029: £82.2 million
Headline spending power figures assume use of the council tax flexibility available under national rules, and that decisions about council tax remain a matter for local councillors.
