DESPITE inflation running at over 10 per cent, Maryport Town Council is proposing no increase in council tax for 2023/24.

The finance committee has proposed a budget of £203,800.

In arriving at this position, the Council’s Finance and General Purposes Committee agreed at its meeting held on October 31 2022 to recommend to Council a budget for 2023/24 of £404,800.

Town clerk Paul Bramley said: "The council’s approach in developing the draft budget has been to recognise the extreme financial pressures which households are facing at this time, leading into next year, through the impact of recovery from the Covid pandemic."

Councillors also recognised the effect of the severe increases in energy prices on inflation, which, they said, were exacerbated by the government’s 'mismanagement' of the economy.

Although there is little likelihood of any improvement in the near future, the council was confident that it could continue to provide a good level of service and continue to make improvements for the benefit of the community.

Mr Bramley added: "In doing so, it has made provision in the budget for:  £10,000 for Maryport and Flimby celebrations of King Charles III's coronation.

A total of £5,000 will be spent to enable the council to continue to put in place additional heritage displays, providing information on the rich history of the area to support the continued influx of visitors, which in turn supports the growth of the local economy.

Other environmental improvements, including flower displays in Maryport and Flimby, would see a £4,500 spend.

Another £10,000 will conttribute to the successful Taste of the Sea Festival, and £8,000 will be spent on Eaaster and summer family fun days and events.

The council has budgeted £10,000 for the cost of town council elections.

A Made in Maryport cultural programme, managed by Allerdale council, will recieve £15,000.

The budget recognises a need for the Town Council to fund significant service improvements and provide support for the community following a period of severe Government reductions  in local government grant funding.

The impact of those cuts has forced principal councils, in this area Cumbria County Council and Allerdale Borough Council, to make major reductions in the services they provide.

These service cuts are likely to continue in years to come as those councils try to balance their budgets, with Cumberland Council being asked to find savings of some £30 million next year.

The kind of services which are being cut by those councils are ones which people have become accustomed to being provided with over many, many years, such as grass cutting, public conveniences, children’s playgrounds and street lighting, as well as more recent innovations such as CCTV coverage.

Mr Brmley said: "The town council is seeking to ensure that its budget will enable it to provide some of those services; the alternative would be long grass, dilapidated playgroundsand demolished toilet blocks."

Finance chairman  Ashworth said: "The austerity policies introduced from 2010 by the then Chancellor George Osbourne, eagerly implemented in the local government area by Eric Pickles, have devastated local services, reducing funding from national government hugely.

"Local services may never recover from this onslaught, which has impacted most severely on the poorest in our society.

"The town council budget, in a small way, aims to support the community in the best way it can in the face of such severe funding reductions."