Wyre’s budget for the year ahead
11th of March, 2023
Wyre’s budget for the year ahead
Wyre Council’s budget was approved at Full Council on Thursday 9 March 2023, setting out the borough’s council tax for the year ahead.
Earlier this year, the Government announced that they would allow districts to increase council tax by up to 3% on a Band D equivalent property, however the council has decided not to follow the government’s lead and instead keep costs lower for residents. The approved budget means that council tax on a band D property will rise by £5 (2.33%) which equates to just 10p per week. Wyre Council collects Council Tax on behalf of a number of authorities that provide services in the area, however Wyre’s portion represents just over 10% of the total bill.
Councillor Michael Vincent, Leader of Wyre Council comments, “We continue to provide excellent value for money for our residents. From April, the overall cost for our services for a Band D property will be just 60p per day, or £219.74 per year.
“Over the last year we have supported residents and businesses, awarding millions of pounds of funding and reducing the amount of Council Tax paid by our most vulnerable residents.
“Last year, we supported 80 Ukrainians seeking refuge in Wyre. The welcome and hospitality shown by our host families has been wonderful to see and we are proud to be playing our part supporting families through such a difficult time.
“Following the pandemic, we have brought communities together to mark a number of historic occasions. Together we celebrated the Queen’s Jubilee at events and street parties across the borough. We also sadly marked the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and, following the proclamation of King Charles III, we now look ahead to celebrating the coronation.
“We continue to offer a huge range of activities to help improve the health and wellbeing of our communities. These range from the Holiday Activity and Food Clubs for children on free school meals to hundreds of guided walks and outdoor activities.
“We have taken further steps to strive towards our ambition of achieving a net zero carbon borough. These include securing £40 million of funding for our beach management scheme to protect thousands of properties from future flooding. We have also secured £1 million to make Fleetwood Market more energy efficient reducing the emissions of one of our major assets. Smaller scale projects include planting 13,500 new trees and installing new electric car charging points to encourage more residents to switch from petrol and diesel vehicles.
“We continue to support businesses through our free Wyred Up network and the annual Wyre Business Awards, and have hosted a range of events to boost visitor numbers to Wyre, providing additional custom for high street businesses. To support this work we have been awarded £3.9 million from the Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which will help us to improve our town centres and support community led projects.
“This year has shown what a truly fantastic place Wyre is to live and work in. In our recent Life in Wyre survey, over three quarters of respondents told us they were satisfied or very satisfied with their local area as a place to live. We know there is always room for improvement and want to do more to make Wyre an even better place. Our communities remain at the heart of everything we do and we will continue to find new ways of working, providing excellent value for money and the highest quality services for the residents and businesses of Wyre.”
Further information is available at www.wyre.gov.uk/budget