Bath & North East Somerset Council’s budget for 2019/20 has been celebrated as a “masterpiece” in difficult circumstances by a fellow Conservative following its recent approval.

Finance Chief, Charles Gerrish, said the proposals (which will see the average household pay £53.23 more) will care for the most vulnerable, protect frontline services and help the authority become self-sufficient. It will take the payment for the average Band D household to £1,401.12.

Mr Gerrish said: “Despite the challenges we face, this is a budget that will deliver for Bath and North East Somerset. It’s a budget that prioritises our children, elderly and most vulnerable residents. We are proposing a level of Council Tax needed not only to balance our budget, but also to sensibly invest in our long-term financial sustainability.

“We will protect the majority of frontline services and provide additional investment into services for vulnerable residents. We propose a 2.75 per cent increase in Council Tax, with a further one per cent for adult social services. This will still mean we have significant savings required for the 2020/21 budget.

“I believe this proposal represents a balanced and prudent approach that delivers the investment needed in key areas.”

Opposition leaders claimed services were being “cut to the bone” and called on the Conservative administration to go back to the drawing board, but Council Leader, Tim Warren, said they had failed to come up with any alternatives.

B&NES Council needs to save another £8.9 million next year, after cutting £72.4 million over the past six years.

The average Band D property will pay an additional £39.76, up 2.95 per cent on 2018/19. Households will also pay another one per cent, equivalent to £13.47 for Band D properties, which will be ring-fenced for adult social care services.

Councillor Mark Shelford described the budget as a “masterpiece” in the circumstances. But Liberal Democrat group leader, Dine Romero, said: “Overall, this budget is cuts, cuts and more cuts.

Residents are going to be paying far more for far less.

“There is no longer any fat to be trimmed from budgets. The cuts are now deep into the bone, jeopardising the vital structures that support and protect the most vulnerable in our society.

She claimed the cuts were ideologically driven, saying: “We all know Conservatives prefer to shrink provision under the mistaken belief that businesses and charities and an army of volunteers will pick up the slack. Who has the capacity to do this in the long-term without proper funding?

“It’s not the Government’s fault you’ve chosen to waste large sums of money on ill-conceived schemes, like the Batheaston Park and Ride, or fighting all and sundry as you attempt to kill off Bath Central Library.”

The Lib-Dem Group Leader also said that adding more to Council tax was not the way to address the funding crisis and argued social care – which now takes up 82 per cent of the Council’s budget – should be funded out of national taxes, in the same way as the NHS. Councillors from other parties also condemned the budget, with some calling for it to be refused.

Mr Warren said: “It’s been tough and it still is tough. We can only play with what we’ve got. We can’t improve on this budget. It’s easy to sit in opposition, but I haven’t heard one alternative. There are no alternatives. We’re doing the best we can with what we have.”

Council tax bills are made up of payments, known as precepts, to several different authorities. Residents pay different sums based on where they live and how much their home is worth. B&NES Council is increasing its share to £1,401.12 – up from £1,347.89 in 2018/19. Avon and Somerset Police is increasing its precept by more than 12 per cent, up to £217.81, while the payment to the Avon Fire Authority will rise by 2.99 per cent to £73.48.

The average rise for Town and Parish Councils in Bath & North East Somerset will be 6.43 per cent.