Ten pence a week on borough council tax for Stafford residents

Residents are set to pay just 10p a week extra from April for the services Stafford Borough Council delivers.

The council is responsible for a plethora of functions such as the household recycling and waste collections, looking after parks and open spaces - including the award-winning Victoria Park and Stonefield Park - and keeping the streets clean, as well as their nationally recognised work in preventing homelessness and reducing rough sleeping. 

They also help fund leisure centres in Stafford and Stone, the Gatehouse Theatre, and museums - The Castle, Ancient High House and Izaac Walton Cottage - and run the crematorium and cemeteries in the area. 

A report to senior councillors will say that money they received from the government to run the services next year has fallen in real terms. This follows government plans announced before Christmas that could see the borough council abolished. 

Council Leader, Aidan Godfrey, said despite the challenging financial situation they would still deliver the key services the community needs - as well as continuing to press ahead with work they have started on ambitious plans to transform Stafford town centre. 

A meeting will take place on Thursday 23 January where the Cabinet will be asked to give the green light to the council tax for 2025-26 which would see the average band D householder paying £3.44 a week. Any decision must then be rubber-stamped by the Full Council in February. 

The council is the ‘collecting authority’ for the whole of Stafford Borough but receives only around 10% of the bill. The overall bill to residents includes charges for Staffordshire County Council, the Police and Crime Commissioner, Fire Authority, as well as any additions for areas with parish councils. 

The report to be discussed by councillors states that it is “being delivered in a profoundly uncertain time for local government. Recent central government announcements suggest that their ambition is to change the local government landscape,” and adds that it was ‘unclear’ about what future financial settlements will look like “particularly taking into account the ambition to remove county councils and district councils and merge other councils.” 

Councillors will hear that the local authority saw no increase year on year in its settlement which “contrasts sharply with the substantial increases experienced by some urban metropolitan areas—some of which saw increases of almost 10%.” 

The report will say this would lead to ‘rural areas’ becoming increasingly dependent on locally raised revenue through council tax and business rates. 

Stafford Borough Council has already made significant savings over the last decade by sharing services with neighbouring Cannock Chase District Council - including an annual reduction of more than £250,000 in senior management costs across both authorities. 

Councillor Ralph Cooke, Cabinet Member for Resources, said: “These are extremely challenging times but despite no real increase in the money we receive from government we will propose the average property will pay no more than an extra 10p a week to help protect the vital services we deliver to the community.” 

And Councillor Godfrey, continued: “We will continue to invest. This year we will transform the entrance and approach to the railway station, therefore improving the first impression for visitors arriving in our town via train. We will press on with the ambitious regeneration of the high street having purchased the derelict former Co-op and the ailing Guildhall Shopping Centre - with work going ahead to make both more attractive for investors and developers to deliver a mix of retail, commercial and residential offer.” 

He added: “Whatever the proposals are for local government in the future our priority will be to continue doing what is best for the residents and businesses in our communities.” 

The annual amount of council tax for a Band D property that will be paid to the borough council is £178.75 for 2025-26. 

The report will be discussed by the cabinet next week (Thursday 23 January).