Council tax in Harrow is set to rise by almost five per cent next year – the maximum allowed without a local referendum – as the council looks to manage a changing budget.

The draft budget for 2019/20 was presented to Harrow Council’s cabinet last night, with finance portfolio holder Cllr Adam Swersky declaring it balanced.

To achieve this, it will be putting council tax up by 4.99 per cent – of which two per cent will be devoted to adult social care – payable from April 2019 to March 2020.

It means households in band D, considered the average for council tax bills, will have to pay an extra £84 over the 12 months from April.

There will also be savings of £3.7 million though the council pointed out that, in some cases, these stem from growth reversal as opposed to outright cuts.

Cllr Swersky admitted that there will be “uncertain times ahead”, and there is a projected funding gap of almost £23 million across 2020-2022.

But he expressed pride in achieving a balanced draft budget and issued a reminder that, in his view, councils across the country are down to their bare bones.

“It was a very, very daunting picture but, through prudence, the need to be efficient and a willingness to make the tough decisions, we have a balanced budget,” he said.

“In terms of increasing council tax – if we are going to continue to provide the services that our residents rely on, then we really have no choice.”

He explained that Harrow’s government grant has reduced by 97 per cent from seven years ago and, as a result, the council must find money from elsewhere.

For the 2019/20 budget, this includes the cutting of call service centres in an attempt to bring all services online.

He added that the financial teams would be working “from this moment” on the 2020/21 budget to try and plug any funding gaps.

“I must say thank you [to them] for getting us to a position we can be truly proud of,” he said.

“Because we are a prudent council, we will be taking the next steps immediately.

“We want to avoid the possibility of becoming like Northamptonshire County Council, which is effectively bankrupt.

“We will do everything in our power to make sure we don’t go anywhere near that.”

Final approval on the council’s budget for 2019/20 will be sought by cabinet and full council in February.