An Oxfordshire councillor has criticised the council's social care plans which will hit people's weekly coffers. 

Liam Walker, Conservative county councillor and shadow cabinet member for highways, said the cabinet could have reduced expenditure elsewhere instead of raising council tax for Band D properties by 4.99 per cent.

The tax increase was approved in a full council meeting yesterday and is the maximum increase allowed by law.

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Mr Walker said: “The coalition is trying to disguise their council tax hike on Oxfordshire residents being all about the need for more social care spending is disingenuous, as only two per cent is for adult social care.

“As the Conservative group highlighted this week, and the coalition voted against, they could have easily accepted a lower council tax rise by reducing costs elsewhere.

"For example not wasting £3 million on planting trees or reducing money being spent on pet projects particularly in Oxford city.

“This is now the second year running they’ve increased our council tax to the highest legal amount possible and it’s not acceptable or fair on residents of Oxfordshire.”

The tax rise comes after the council has committed to spending millions on divisive traffic measures.

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The council tax rise will add £82.42 to bills for Band D properties, which is an extra £1.59 per week

The Labour, Liberal-Democrat and Labour-led council justified the rise in order to help fund an £8.9 million investment in social care.

Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, Liz Leffman said: “According to research by the County Councils Network, of the 114 councils who provide social care and have published their budgets, 84 are planning a five per cent council tax rise (74 per cent).

"Oxfordshire County Council is far from being an outlier. Like all councils we are having to deal with unprecedented levels of inflation which impacts all of our services.

“In the Autumn the government announced that it would allow councils to raise council tax by this amount and recommended that they do so – with two per cent ringfenced for adult social care spending.

“Our priorities are to tackle inequality and support the most vulnerable residents in Oxfordshire by investing in frontline services, to tackle climate change and to put our finances on a stable footing for the challenges ahead.

“We have therefore accepted the government’s recommendation while investing to make sure we protect the lowest income households from the impact of this increase.

"We have set aside £2.3m to provide council tax relief and officers are working closely with districts and the city council to design this approach.”