Children’s play services will be cut in Stevenage and council tax will rise so the borough council can balance its budget.

Councillor Sharon Taylor said the Stevenage Borough Council has its “most difficult financial challenge”as the coronavirus pandemic cost the authority almost £5million. She outlined plans to save £780,940 over the next financial year.

The borough council will raise their share of council tax by £4.55, to an annual total of £225.57 for a Band D property, while the council will also raise parking charges to generate more income.

The cuts include reducing the hours of the council’s children’s play service during term-time. The plans are subject to consultation, and the council said the service will continue during school holidays, while pop-up play, and play schemes would still be offered.

The council will also reduce its customer services opening hours by an hour every day, which would save the council the equivalent cost of two full-time members of staff.

The council will make further savings through removing car parking discounts for those using hotels in the town centre and for those using Mecca Bingo, which is expected to save £20,000.

In one spending proposal, the borough council will also look at hiring a new climate change officer, which will include applying for grants, as well as supporting the council’s ambition to reach net-zero by 2030.

The council has also outlined plans to spend £42.8m on building new homes across the borough, which will provide new social and affordable housing, as well as private housing to help fund the project.

The council will spend £133,000 a year on a shrub bed programme, as well as £25,151 on play area improvements across the borough.

The leader of the council took aim at central government for reducing the council’s funding, and said the loss of income during the pandemic was still affecting the authority’s finances.

Cllr Taylor said: “Instead of help, we face the most difficult financial challenge in my 25 years as a councillor.

“The bottom line cost of COVID to the council is an estimated £4.8m and that’s after the Government funding that was supposed to meet our losses, making setting a budget for the next year more difficult than ever."

The council leader added: “As our new town pioneers did in the wake of the terrible disaster of the Second World War, we will work together, we will work with imagination, with innovation, with creativity to lead our town into a period of regeneration and recovery.

“Building on the wonderful community spirit that’s prevailed in these last months we can build on those foundations to carry on writing the story of Stevenage, a town where the challenges of the economy and climate change are tackled alongside one another.

"A town where the focus is on community, equality and social justice. A town whose very heart lies in its people.”

Leader of the Conservative group, Councillor Phil Bibby, warned the budget would see the council move closer to their minimum amount of reserves, and said the council needs to take a “much more radical approach to service provision and efficiencies”.

He asked whether the council was getting value for money out of consultants, and proposed one-hour free parking on weekends and spending on teams tackling fly-tipping.

Leader of the Liberal Democrat group Councillor Robin Parker said residents complained about long waits to contact customer services, current housing repairs, and the town needed better cycle links.

Cllr Parker said the council also needed to consider more initiatives to generate income, including generating solar power and advertising on council land.

Councillor Stephen Booth also criticised the cuts to the play service, saying children had already suffered as a result of the pandemic, but the portfolio holder Councillor Richard Henry said he fought to keep the play service, something the council is not required to provide.

The new budget for 2022/23 was approved as proposed, and will come into effect from April 1.

The proposed changes to the council’s play service will be subject to a separate consultation, and details are expected to be finalised later this year.