Budget decided for the next year

The council met from 4pm Wednesday 28 February at City Hall.

The budget is in line with the continuing City Plan for a more dynamic, healthy, vibrant and connected Sunderland, alongside providing help and assistance for residents with the cost of living crisis.

Backing was given for a 4.99 (five) per cent increase in the Council Tax and includes two per cent for the social care precept to help pay for services to elderly and vulnerable people.

The remaining 2.99 per cent helps other day-to-day services such as recycling and waste collection, street lighting and parks.

The tax finances around £16 (16 per cent) of every £100 in the council's services budget with the majority of funding coming from Government grants. The agreed budget for services over the next 12 months is £806.5m.

Like other councils across the country, Sunderland is seeing rising demand and cost pressures in care services. More than a quarter of the day-to-day budget (27 per cent) is now for adult social care services - ten years ago these were 17 per cent of the services budget.

Leader of Sunderland City Council, Councillor Graeme Miller said: "As in previous years, we have worked very hard to ensure this is a positive budget, which allows us to continue with our ambitious social and economic regeneration plans for the city, while ensuring we continue to protect and support our residents most in need."

In November, the council's three political group leaders wrote to the Chancellor of the Exchequer outlining their concerns over budgets and spending pressures.

To help balance the budget, the council is using £9m of reserves and introducing nearly £7m (£6.673m) of savings and efficiencies.

The budget is investing an extra £21m in children's and adult services to help protect vulnerable residents and to meet the increasing cost and demand pressures.

Cllr Miller said: "We will continue to invest in our city, we will continue to invest to protect the most vulnerable people in our city, and we will continue to invest in services that our residents tell us are important to them, such as working with our partners to tackle anti-social behaviour and increase community safety.

"Raising council tax remains a difficult decision for all councils and not a decision we take lightly. If we do not raise council tax, we will need to cut services and reduce our investment into our key priority areas. That would mean cuts in services to those most vulnerable within our communities.

"This increase represents an increase of £1.05 pence a week for a band A property or £1.57 pence a week for the average Band D property. Although we would rather not increase our council tax, it remains the lowest in Tyne and Wear and, indeed, the lowest in the wider North East region."

Alongside services, new investments of nearly £60m including the redevelopment of Bishopwearmouth Crematorium, upgrades at sports and leisure centres, and updates to the vehicle fleet, plant and equipment were all agreed at the meeting.

These are in addition to the bigger City Plan which is seeing more than £600m of investment over the next four years - investments include works at Riverside Sunderland and the completion of a high-level footbridge, the Culture House project, and regeneration in the Coalfield and Washington areas.

The budget was agreed by 42 votes to 22.