New leadership vows to keep council tax rise below 5%

The new leadership of Worcestershire County Council has pledged to keep next year's council tax rise below 5% - to help people who are feeling the pinch.

The Green Lib Dem independent coalition, a minority administration that came to power last week, made the pledge during its first cabinet meeting.

But councillors also warned that staffing cuts were on the way, because of a budget gap of £84m for 2027-28.

Green Councillor Matt Jenkins, the leader, called the coalition "a new alliance of councillors who have come together to deliver meaningful change".

The pledge on council tax comes after a 9% rise this year, which was voted through in February when the authority was controlled by a minority Reform administration.

Jenkins said he did not "underestimate the financial challenges ahead", but insisted the council was intent on reducing its reliance on emergency government support.

The local authority had to access £59.9m in special government help to avoid effective bankruptcy earlier this year, with the previous Reform leadership saying the 9% tax hike helped avoid "financial collapse".

"Our aim is definitely to keep next year's council tax rise to below 5% - that's our goal," said Jenkins.

"It's going to be difficult but it's possible - we've got to have everyone on board, staff and councillors.

"This year's rise was too high. We know people struggle to pay council tax."

Councillor Adam Kent, the suspended Conservative, was also at the meeting as the new deputy leader.

"I certainly didn't think I'd be here last week - it's been an interesting few days," he said.

"We've got to take the 'national' out of local politics. The interference we've seen in local politics, from national organisations, is unacceptable."

He also said he "regretted" the decision of three of his former Tory colleagues to quit the cabinet, after an intervention from the Conservatives nationally.

"I don't care if you are Green, Liberal, Conservative, Reform, whatever - my door is open for anybody to come through it," he said.

"Our goal is a council tax rise of below 5%, that's what we'll be judged on."

The minority coalition, featuring Green, Lib Dem and independent councillors controls just 18 of the 57 votes, meaning it will need the support of others to get its policies through.

The cabinet has also agreed that the chief executive Paul Robinson can hold talks with the trade unions over staffing changes, although bosses are hoping to avoid compulsory redundancies.

Instead they will focus on potential changes to things like festive leave, mileage rates and sick pay, and consider a voluntary redundancy scheme to save cash.

The council employs more than 3,000 people, although several hundred of those are part-time, with bosses hoping natural wastage reduces the size of the workforce sufficiently.

The council is also working on a new "transformation plan", which also includes using AI.

"That's just one example of the difficult decisions we've got ahead of us," added Jenkins.

Opposition Conservative Councillor Karen May said: "I am concerned when I hear that whole plethora of proposals [for our staff].

"We absolutely need to make sure our workforce is protected in all of this. Yes, let's look at it - but we need to be very measured."

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