RESIDENTS in South Cambridgeshire will pay an extra £5 a year in Council Tax for the services provided by the district council. South Cambridgeshire District Council has agreed a 4.9 per cent Council Tax increase for 2008/09. This brings SCDC s share of

RESIDENTS in South Cambridgeshire will pay an extra £5 a year in Council Tax for the services provided by the district council.

South Cambridgeshire District Council has agreed a 4.9 per cent Council Tax increase for 2008/09. This brings SCDC's share of the Council Tax bill to £107.27 for a Band D home, which is an increase of £5.01 a year or less than 10p a week.

SCDC says the extra revenue will be spent on new services including kerbside recycling collection of plastic bottles, a help desk for planning matters and a new economic development officer to promote South Cambridgeshire businesses.

Money will also be invested in environmental services to help combat littering.

Cllr Vicky Ford, resources portfolio holder, said: "SCDC delivers a wide variety of services to over 130,000 local residents. Some of the money for those services comes from the Council Tax but a larger part comes from a settlement from central government. The district is a rapidly growing area but this year the Government has only offered us a one per cent increase in settlement. This does not even keep pace with inflation and is one of the lowest increases in the East of England.

"We therefore have a difficult balancing act of protecting essential services for residents, keeping the Council Tax low and providing value for money."

The council's financial settlement from Government in 2007/8 was £7.562million. The increase for next year is £29,000, with proposed increases of £39,000 in 2009/10 and £74,000 in 2010/11.