WAVENEY District Council's pledge to deliver its lowest tax increase in a decade has become a reality after councillors voted through a 2.4% rise.The Conservative-led council's proposals received the broad support of Liberal Democrat and independent councillors, but were not backed by the main opposition Labour group, which questioned what cuts would have to be made to achieve the inflation-pegged hike.

WAVENEY District Council's pledge to deliver its lowest tax increase in a decade has become a reality after councillors voted through a 2.4% rise.

The Conservative-led council's proposals received the broad support of Liberal Democrat and independent councillors, but were not backed by the main opposition Labour group, which questioned what cuts would have to be made to achieve the inflation-pegged hike.

Council leader Mark Bee insisted there would be no cuts to front line services because the authority

was moving towards balancing its books.

He said: “I believe this is a budget which promises much for this authority and this district. This represents the lowest percentage increase in council tax for the past decade.

“The figure is an achievement for the council and stands as a landmark for the way we set our budget.

“I believe that as a country we have reached the limit of people's tolerance levels for increases in council tax.

“A stand must be taken and we are taking that stand in Waveney.”

The council has pledged to keep its increases in council tax levels pegged to the inflation rate for at least the next three years as it pushes on with its medium term financial strategy, which could see many services outsourced to the private sector in a bid to improve value for money.

Waveney's 2.4% increase in its share of the council tax equates to an average annual increase of just £3.18 per Band D household.

With Suffolk County Council increasing its share of the tax by 4.5% and the police authority agreeing a hike of 4.95%, Band D taxpayers can expect to see an increase in their bills of about £55.