Littlehampton Town Council sets 'most-challenging yet' budget

Like households and businesses across the UK, the town council has been impacted by the rise in energy bills and fuel prices as well as increases in materials and contract prices.

A spokesperson for Littlehampton Town Council said: “The council addressed the challenges by carefully assessing expenditure across all services and identifying areas where savings could be made whilst delivering key services such as allotments, community grants and events.

James Walsh, the chair of the council’s policy and finance committee, said it was ‘the most challenging budget-setting process the council has ever experienced’.

“A lot of effort was put into ensuring the preceptincrease was as low as possible and, although it is higher than we would have liked, it is significantly lower than inflation,” Dr Walsh added.

“The council tax increase for a Band D taxpayer will be just under 12p per week, a total of £6.20 per year, which is a rise of 4.63 per cent.”

Details of the budget are online www.littlehampton-tc.gov.uk/how-we-spend

The figures are for Littlehampton Town Council’s part of the council tax. For other elements, residents will need to check their council tax bill when it arrives from Arun District Council.

It had already been announced that people were set to pay an extra £15 in council tax, after police and crime commissioner Katy Bourne’s budget proposals for the coming year were backed.