OXFORD City Council has agreed to put up council tax by £6 a year for the average home.

A bureaucratic delay caused by the Home Office had prevented Thames Valley Police from setting its precept – the amount of tax it needs to take from councils to fund services.

This had a knock-on effect for the city council, which had to delay a discussion of council tax initially planned for Thursday, February 13.

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On that date Oxford City Council agreed its budget for the 2020/21 financial year, but was unable to agree the council tax rise due to the behind-the-scenes delay.

Now, after a meeting called on Monday, the council has unanimously agreed the tax rise was needed, so it could go ahead with its spending plans for the next year.

Oxford City Council has set aside money to tackle the climate crisis, build more council houses and get rough sleepers off the streets in the next year and over the next five years.

The average Band D house will pay £319.84 in the next financial year.

This is an extra £6.30 on what the average house currently pays of £313.54.

All in all, the council will need to collect a total of £14,679,191 in council tax over the next year to help meet its budget commitments.

But the city council also collects tax on behalf of Oxfordshire County Council and Thames Valley Police.

OCC has made a large increase in its budget for the 2020/21 financial year of 3.99 per cent

The average overall council tax bill for the next year in the city will be £2,063.56 because of these two other organisations.

This is a rise of £74.88 from the amount paid in 2019/20, which was £1,988.68.

Houses which are valued as cheaper than Band D will pay less tax, while more expensive ones will pay more tax.

At the meeting on February 13, there were criticisms of some of the council’s future plans.

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This included worries about the future of tourism expressed by Lib Dem councillor Liz Wade.

She asked the council to reinstate funding to Experience Oxfordshire, an organisation which provides information to visitors across the county.

But her amendment to the budget to restore the £173,000 annual grant to EO was voted down.

Green councillor Dick Wolff also expressed concerns about the city council’s plan to borrow £67 million to invest in commercial property.

This followed a warning from the National Audit Office, which said a ‘bubble’ could be created by councils buying up offices and retail parks as a way to offset government cuts.

Mr Wolff had proposed slashing the £67 million borrowing in half, and using the left over funds to invest in green energy and sustainable housing, but his suggestion was voted down.

Council tax increases will come into force from April 1 this year for all of the districts across Oxfordshire.