Council tax set to rise

OXFORDSHIRE County Council is proposing to raise its share of council tax by at least 1.9 per cent.

There is also an option for an additional increase of up to three per cent for adult social care.

The council also needs to make savings of £19.6 million across all its services.

Council leader Ian Hudspeth said: “We face an uncertain funding situation. There is a combination of factors coming together this year that mean we need to make additional savings on top of those already agreed for our 2021/22 budget.

“These factors include loss of income and other impacts on services due to covid-19 and the uncertainty of government funding as a whole — for our pandemic response and recovery, the future distribution of business rates and the potential introduction of new funding formulas.

“Added to this, our population is growing and ageing at one of the fastest rates in our history, which puts more pressure on our budgets.”