Greenwich Council has approved a 3.99% hike in council tax for 2016-2017.

The decision means  residents will pay a higher rate of council tax from April onwards, made up of a two per cent rise for adult social care and 1.99 per cent for children’s social care.

A number of cuts are to be made as part of a four-year programme to reduce costs, including reducing staff costs by £20 million and encouraging more online transactions.

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Labour Councillor Denise Hyland, Greenwich’s council leader, said: “The increase results from changes in the way that local councils are funded by the government, which has allocated its funding on the assumption that councils would raise council tax by two per cent to cover the increasing cost of adult social care services and also that it expects councils to raise council tax by a further amount to cover inflation.

“This means Council Tax in the borough will rise by 2% for adult social care.

"We have taken the decision to increase Council Tax by an additional 1.99% for children’s social care, an equivalent of an average increase of less than 40p per week per household.

“We are also making wide-ranging changes to services to ensure they are delivered more efficiently – while at the same time offering support to help people become more self-reliant.

“Even so, the level of demand for care services continues to rise, which means we need to plan ahead and ensure sufficient services are in place.

The proposals for an increase in council tax – Greenwich’s first in nine years – will help ensure those services can continue to meet the needs of the most vulnerable people in our community.”