Waste windfall will bolster Exeter council budget

But £3.5million savings will still be needed

A new tax on wasteful packaging will bring Exeter a hefty windfall this year.

But city councillors drawing up budgets for the coming years have been warned not to rely on the ‘extended producer responsibility’ (EPR) which is putting money into council coffers all over the country.

It is a tax on manufacturers designed to cover the cost of dealing with waste packaging and recycling their products. The money is collected by the government and then handed to local councils.

Exeter City Council will get £1.4 million in the first year of the scheme, but as yet there are no guarantees on further payments. And members of the executive committee heard that some of the windfall will be needed to compensate for the effects of the government’s new policies around National Insurance (NI).

Councils had been assured that the NI changes would not end up costing them money, but finance officers nationwide are reporting significant costs.

A report for the committee said the government’s proposed contribution to the costs of the NI changes was ‘woefully inadequate’.

Exeter has received exactly the same amount of money from the government as it did last year, meaning it is likely that council tax will increase by 2.99 per cent again this year for city households.

Rising costs mean the city council is likely to have to find ways to save money to balance the budget.

Council leader Phil Bialyk (Lab, Exwick) said the council could have to save as much as £3.5 million this year.

Cllr Matthew Vizard (Lab, Newtown and St Leonards) told the meeting: “This has underlined the terrible inheritance this government has had, and the effect it is having on local authorities.

“Council tax in Exeter still remains one of the lowest in the country, which is good news for householders in this cost of living crisis, but it does reduce our spending power as a council.”