COUNCIL taxpayers in Derwentside have been told the district council will not increase the amount it charges for its services this year.

While the biggest portion of the council tax bill, claimed by Durham County Council, is rising by 4.6 per cent, along with increases of 4.97 per cent for policing and 4.9 per cent for fire cover, people in the Stanley and Consett area will be paying the same in April as they are now for their local services.

That means that the total bill to taxpayers, excluding charges for parish councils, will rise by 3.9 per cent.

"The zero per cent rise is something we are very proud of in Derwentside. I don't think any council can match us. It is unique,'' said the council's Labour leader, Alex Watson. "We've had recognition from the Local Government Minister Phil Woolas, who has commended us for our commitment to services without making excessive demands on council taxpayers.

"We have not only listened to the public, but taken notice. The public have always been vociferous about council tax increases, particularly senior citizens who contend that increases in their pension gets eaten away by council tax increases.

"For the last three years, we have kept the increase at 2.5 per cent, with a clear target to come in with a zero per cent increase in the 2006-07 financial year.

"In the years to come, we'll always have a target of a zero council tax increase.''

The council will have a net budget of £15.2m, compared with £14.5m this year, and Government support is rising £348,000 to £8.57m.

Councillor Watson said it was a "reasonably satisfactory'' settlement.

He said there were no cutbacks, and that the council was investing in services and new initiatives, including leisure, a recycling bin collection, extending CCTV, fitting smoke alarms in homes and paying for the new free bus travel scheme for pensioners and the registered disabled.

The council will confirm its zero per cent rise at a meeting today.

The new total bills will be: Band A £928.15; B £1,082.85; C £1,237.54; D £1,392.23; E £1,701.61; F £2,011.00; G £2,320.38; H £2,784.46.

... but 4.5% increase to be approved

COUNCIL taxpayers will have to pay between £28 and £85 more from April to pay for services provided by Durham County Council.

The Labour-run council's cabinet will meet today to approve an inflation-busting 4.6 per cent increase.

The county council accounts for about 80 per cent of the total bill, which also includes payments for policing, fire cover, district council services and, in some areas, town or parish councils.

The rise is within the Government's five per cent capping limit, but compares with an inflation rate of about 2.4 per cent. The average council tax increase across the country is about four per cent.

The council's citizen's panel said a 4.5 per cent council tax increase would be acceptable.

Most homes in the county are in band A and those householders will have to pay the county council £28.38 more as the council tax rate rises from £616.56 to £644.94.

The band D charge will rise from £924.84 to £967.41 while in the highest band, H, the increase is £85.14, taking the charge to £1,934.82.

But the rise is being accompanied by spending cuts of about £14m, which the council blames on a poor allocation of grants from the Government.

Councillor leader Ken Manton has described it as the "the toughest-ever budget-building programme".

The cuts include closing Wheatley Hill's part-time library and ending the trailer libraries for Blackhill, near Consett, and Coundon, and closing family centres at Esh Winning and Shildon and a garden scheme and a luncheon club at Annfield Plain, near Stanley, and the Bishop Auckland Helping Hands project, all for people with learning disabilities.

The increase is expected to be approved at a future meeting of the full council.

The full list of charges from April is: Band A, £644.94; B £752.43; C £859.92; D £967.41; E £1,182.39; F £1,397.37; G £1,612.35; H £1,934.82.