BLACKBURN with Darwen Council’s finance boss has announced a 10-point plan to boost the borough as its budget meeting voted to increase its portion of council tax by the maximum 3.99 per cent.

The rise will go ahead from a April 1 despite an impassioned plea from Liberal Democrat Cllr Paul Browne to freeze the levy on households and a Tory claim it was only ‘covering up the cracks’.

Cllr Vicky McGurk, executive member of resources, said the Labour administration was proposing the rise - 1.99 per cent for general services and two per cent for adult social care - ‘reluctantly’ in line with government guidance.

This will put up the bills for the Band A terraced homes that make up most of the borough’s housing stock by £43.40 a year or 83p a week in April.

The increase in the borough’s portion of the council tax for a typical semi-detached Band D family home in Blackburn with Darwen will be £65.15 a year or £1.25 a week.

The annual council tax bill, including levies for the police and fire and rescue service will be for homes in Band A, £1,341.04; Band B, £1,564.56; Band C, £1,788.06; Band D, £2,011.57; Band E, £2,458.58; Band F, £2,905.60; Band G, £3,352.61 and Band H, £4,023.14.

Households in the Darwen Town Council area and the parishes of Eccleshill, Livesey, North Turton, Pleasington, Tockholes, Yate and Pickup Bank will pay a small extra charge for their services.

Cllr McGurk told Monday night’s meeting:”We will be increasing general council tax by 1.99 per cent and to protect our services for adults, we will also increase the Adult Social Care Precept by two per cent. We do this reluctantly, and recognise the government assumes we will do this. But it is more about the funding we have not been given over the last decade that means we have little choice but to increase council tax to keep this council financially sustainable.

“We will, though, go that bit further. Our financial settlement being a bit better than we expected, we believe that residents deserve to see the benefits.

“That’s why Labour’s budget for next year will implement our 10-point ‘Build Blackburn with Darwen Back Better’ plan.”

It includes:

* £260,000 more to refresh white lining on roads;

* £265,000 to scrap the £1 charge to use council leisure services in 2022/23;

* Extending library opening by two hours a week in Blackburn and three per week in Darwen at a cost of £40,000;

* Spending £80,000 on introducing designated ‘park keepers’ to improve the borough’s green spaces;

* Investing £48,000 to increase litter bin emptying and provide more litter bins;

* Spending £95,000 on an additional gully cleanser;

* Investing £90,000 in additional litter picking staff;

* Arranging community bulky waste collections in each ward at least twice a year at a cost of £35,000;

* £1million more for Special Guardianship Orders;

* Providing funding of £300,000 to deliver the plans to make the borough carbon neutral by 2030.

Darwen East’s Cllr Browne said: “The Labour group don’t realise the poverty we have in this town. These increases are going to take either a meal away from some families in this borough and that to me is wrong. You could stop this increase now for this year. You’re going to hurt a lot of people in this borough, I’ll guarantee you that.”

Conservative finance spokesman Cllr Neil Slater told Cllr McGurk: “I think your speech covered over a lot of cracks.

“I think you have undersold just how much grants and Covid money we have had from this government.

“We have some difficult decisions down the road which you have ducked and used government money to hide.

“We have some serious structural debt problems in this council.”