Wycombe District Council will freeze its portion of council tax for the coming financial year – a move which was met with scepticism from opposition councillors.

Councillors backed the cabinet’s recommendation that WDC’s share of the council tax should remain the same, meaning the average band D property will continue to pay £131.99 annually or £2.53 a week.

However residents still face a rise in council tax as Bucks County Council agreed to increase its portion by 1.99 per cent, amounting to an increase of £1.11p per week for band D rate payers.

BCC has also agreed to implement the government's three per cent social care precept which will go towards the spiralling cost of adult social care.

WDC’s cabinet member for finance and resources, cllr David Watson, said the council faces significant challenges in the next financial year following a reduction in the government’s revenue support grant and business rate income.

The transfer of business rates to WDC will see a council cost increase of £300,000 by 2019/20 and there is “considerable uncertainty” due to the impact the devolved service will have on the council’s workload.

A total of £250,000 has been added to the budget to facilitate the cost of providing temporary accommodation to vulnerable people, following a spike in homelessness in the district.

And £1.2 million has also been taken out of reserves to fill a funding gap in the members’ pension fund.

However, despite rising costs WDC’s investment in a number of projects, including the Handy Cross Hub and Hughenden Quarter, have helped to enable the council tax to “remain one of the lowest in England”, according to the cabinet member.

Addressing a meeting of the full council on February 23, cllr Watson said: “Over the last 6 years the leadership of this council has kept the element of this council tax chargeable by Wycombe District to be frozen in all but one year. That is no small achievement.

“The level of district council tax remains one of the lowest in England.

“Again that’s quite an achievement, and this has bene achieved by delivering considerable efficiencies and growing the council’s commercial income, in order to offset what has totalled the 51 per cent cumulative decline in the revenue support grant and business rate income over the last few years.”

Cllr Watson reminded councillors that the modernising local government debate had been left out of budget discussions.

However the freeze was met with scepticism from opposition councillors, with the move coming "as a concern" to the leader of East Wycombe Independents, cllr Matt Knight.

He stated: “In effect a freeze is actually a cut as inflation is now beginning to creep up. A freeze this year compounds inflationary increases in future years which will either necessitate a big increase in council tax in the future, or cuts to services.

"As a group we are concerned that as greater efficiency savings are sought out some of our non-statutory support mechanisms will come under threat. "Things like council tax reduction for the disabled has been retained – but for how long?”