Councillors last night agreed to freeze council tax in Stevenage borough for the sixth year in a row.

The budget and council tax for 2015/2016 were unanimously agreed by the 35 councillors present at the Stevenage Borough Council (SBC) meeting last night.

This means householders in Band C, which the majority of households fall into in the town, will pay £167.57 per year to SBC, who receive 13p from every pound of council tax.

In total Band C council tax in Stevenage will increase to £1,313.27 after Hertfordshire County Council voted to increase their share of council tax by 1.99 per cent.

Now 77p will go to HCC and 10p to Hertfordshire Police of each pound paid.

Leader of the SBC Sharon Taylor said: “I am pleased to announce that, for the sixth year running, we will freeze the Stevenage element of the council tax.

“I believe a council tax freeze for Stevenage remains essential.”

Council tax pays for services such as refuse and recycling collections, parks and play areas, cemeteries, environmental health, community safety and leisure activities.

Speaking about the budget she said: “Local authority budgets have been cut for the fifth year consecutive year.

“Since 2010/11, our grant from the government has reduced by £3.269 million - 52.36% meaning we have needed to take a different, longer-term approach to out budget planning.”