Council tax bills in Gateshead will rise by 4.99% this year.
Plans to increase the charge by the maximum level allowed without a local referendum or Government approval were given the final sign-off by Cllrs on Thursday, despite acknowledgement of the “burden” being placed on struggling households.
Gateshead Council’s approved budget for 2025/26 will also see the authority spend £11 million worth of its cash reserves to help balance the civic centre books.
But Labour council leader Martin Gannon told colleagues that there would be no cuts to frontline services, unlike in recent years when the authority has pushed through controversial measures like the closure of leisure centres.
The council reports that it has suffered a 63% reduction in financial support from the Government since 2010 – equating to £1,046 less to spend per resident, at a time of inflated costs and escalating demand for social care services.
Speaking at a full council meeting on Thursday afternoon, Cllr Gannon said the town had received a better deal since Labour’s general election win last summer and would see its funding increase by 8% in 2025/26.
However, he warned that the authority still faces a £35 million shortfall over the next five years that would require a “generous”, multi-year commitment from ministers to allow it to plan a “positive and sustainable future for the people of Gateshead”.
72% of residents who answered a recent consultation opposed the new council tax hike, which includes a 2% precept ringfenced for adult social care.
Cllr Gannon said: “We recognise the burden this is placing upon the people of Gateshead. It is not unique to Gateshead, it is happening across the whole of local government. Not surprisingly, when we carried out a public consultation 72% of our residents of course have told us they would prefer not to see council tax rise by that level.
“However, as a council we have a responsibility to deliver a balanced budget and to balance the needs of our most vulnerable residents against the desires of the general population of Gateshead.”
The council says it must also make £2.1 million of efficiency savings and plans to save £2.4 million through a “transformation” of care services, focused on providing social care for more people in their own homes rather than in residential care facilities, but Cllr Gannon has promised a £7.7 million investment into tackling potholes – adding that new equipment capable of carrying out six times as much work would “radically” improve the quality of the town’s roads.
The running of leisure centres at Heworth, Dunston, Blaydon, and Gateshead International Stadium is also due to be handed over to an outside operator, GLL, from April.
Cllr Ron Beadle, the leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition, complained that the council was “exactly where we were last year” – tied to making a 4.99% council tax rise, despite a Keir Starmer promise in 2023 not to raise council tax.
He added that the council could be accused of “kicking the hard decisions down the road” by not enacting more cuts this year and that the move was a gamble that relied on the Treasury coming through with more support for local authorities.
However, he said he backed the move as a “better alternative” to cuts.
Cllr Beadle added that the council had a “huge job” regenerating the centre of the town – highlighting the plight of Gateshead high street, the closure of the A167 flyover, and the lack of progress on regenerating the Quayside plot earmarked for a new conference centre and arena.
Following the 4.99% council tax rise, bills in Gateshead for 2025/26 will increase to:
- Band A – £1, 718.78
- Band B – £2,005.24
- Band C – £2, 291.71
- Band D – £2,578.17
- Band E – £3, 151.10
- Band F – £3,724.02
- Band G – £4,296.95
- Band H – £5,156.34
However, around 12,000 low-income households in Gateshead will pay no more than 8.5% of their bill under the authority’s council tax support scheme.
