Great Yarmouth Borough Council agrees budget and sets Council Tax for 2025/26

At a meeting of all members of the council at the Town Hall on February 20 it was agreed to increase the borough's portion of borough residents' Council Tax bills by 2.99 per cent.

This means that for an average Band D property in the borough, GYBC's part of the annual Council Tax bill will be £192.49 - an increase of £5.59 (per annum) from last year.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council's share of Council Tax bills represents 8.5 per cent of the total people will pay. Of people's total Council Tax bill, 76 per cent goes to Norfolk County Council, 14.3 per cent to Norfolk Police Authority and 1.2 per cent to parish councils.

At the meeting, members also agreed that council home rents will increase by 2.7 per cent for 2025/26, which means the weekly rent on a two-bedroomed property will go up £2.47, from £91.44 to £93.91.

The move comes after Norfolk County Council this week agreed to increase its share of Council Tax by 4.99 per cent for 2025/26 and Norfolk Police Authority earlier agreed to increase its share by 4.42 per cent.

To ensure its budget is balanced, members agreed that over the next financial year the borough council plans to make savings of just under £600,000 and use £613,000 from its reserves.

GYBC has seen an increase of 4.7 per cent in funding from the Government for the year, compared to an average increase across all local authorities of 6 per cent. The council's overall net budget for 2025/26 is £16.9m.

Councillor Carl Smith, Great Yarmouth Borough Council leader, said: ''We continue to face significant financial challenges due to the uncertainty of future funding for local government and the increase in inflationary pressures that are not matched by inflationary income levels.

''However, despite those challenges I am very pleased we have been able to produce a balanced budget. Everyone has worked hard to ensure we keep bills as low as we can for residents at a time when households are facing continued financial pressures.''