Councillors bring in tax hike to pay for social care

Councillors approved a 4.99 per cent increase yesterday, with Band D properties paying an extra £1 a week.

Part of the increase – three per cent – was authorised by government to pay for social care which is costing an extra £21m, the council said.

Hampshire County Council leader Cllr Roy Perry said: ‘In Hampshire, these pressures have left us needing to close a funding gap of £98m by April this year.

‘We are doing our level best to shield residents as far as possible from any impact, while protecting the quality of local services. We recognise the pressures on the NHS and that is one of the reasons we considered it important to put as much funding as possible into social care, to do our bit to help address the issue of “bed blocking” in the NHS.’