COTSWOLD District Council has frozen Council Tax for 2018/2019 after rubber-stamping its budget at a meeting on Tuesday.

The decision means that CDC’s Council Tax payments have been kept at the same rate for the third consecutive year.

The latest freeze means CDC’s charge is the 21st lowest in the country.

CDC said that the average Band D resident will be paying £126.40 per year which is on a par to what residents were paying in 2005, which represents a reduction of around 45 per cent when taking into account the annual inflation rate.

The meeting heard that without cutting frontline services, the amount being charged for a Band D property has been reduced by £17.98 per year (12 per cent) over a period which stretches back to 2010/11.

In a budget consultation survey, the council indicated that it may need to increase its council tax by a maximum of 1.99 per cent and asked residents for their views on that proposed level of increase.

A total of 32.35 per cent of respondents strongly disagreed, 17.65 per cent disagreed, while no one strongly supported the move, so the freeze is something CDC feels will be welcomed by residents.

Cotswold District Council Deputy Leader Nick Parsons said: “Nearly all the local authorities in the UK are increasing their share for the council tax bill, but I am delighted to say that we can maintain our price freeze in the Cotswolds. I am sure that residents will be very pleased to hear this news.

“Those working on behalf of the council are always mindful of the need to keep our costs down, and I am extremely grateful for the efforts of Cotswold District Council staff as they continue to innovate and find savings without any detriment to our services.

“Working with partner councils, we are on target to share in collective savings of £5.6 million per year by 2020 - these savings are vital to ensure we can continue to provide excellent value for money.”

Lib Dem councillor, Joe Harris wasn’t so pleased with the decision to freeze council tax again, he said: “I’m not that happy about it. We have bigger challenges for example the new car park we have to pay for so we’re going to be borrowing more money and therefore the younger generations will struggle in the future.”