CAR parking charges are being frozen to give Worcester's High Street a boost - but council tax could go up two per cent for householders across the city.

After months of work Worcester City Council has unveiled its 2016/17 budget proposals, which include a record £11 million investment in a raft of major projects.

The Conservative leadership insists it is yet to make its mind up on council tax, but has modelled its budget plans on a suggested 1.9 per cent rise from April.

That hike is designed to pre-empt expected confirmation later this month from Chancellor George Osborne that district councils will again be subject to a two per cent 'cap' on rises without staging costly public referendums.

In return for a possible tax rise, a £10.2 million general budget has been drawn up alongside £11 million of capital spending on big projects.

The major spending includes financial backing towards the £10.4 million eight-lane swimming pool at Perdiswell, £500,000 towards more improvements to the riverside and city centre resurfacing, and £250,000 on Gheluvelt Park toilets.

Restoring or replacing hundreds of Worcester's worst street name plates, a planned £40,000 investment, is also included.

Around 39 per cent of the capital spending - some £7.8 million - will come from loans, most of which will be sunk into the pool project or new rubbish trucks.

The general budget is being plugged by £700,000 of money from the Government for allowing new property building, known as the New Homes Bonus.

A new report on the 2016/17 budget has been published in draft form and will be put to the Conservative cabinet this coming Tuesday, December 8.

The document predicts that the 2016/17 main Government funding kitty, known as the Revenue Support Grant, will be £1.5 million next year, although that will only be confirmed two days before Christmas.

Last week Chancellor George Osborne stated how that grant will be phased out entirely by 2020, with local authorities being self-funded by then and reliant on business rates and council tax.

Councillor Simon Geraghty, the leader, said: "While many councils across the country will be announcing further cuts this year, I'm proud we are looking to set a balanced budget for 2016/17.

"It includes a major investment programme to ensure Worcester continues to improve and we are even able to freeze parking charges for another year."

Councillor Richard Boorn, opposition Labour Party finance spokesman, said: "It's not prudent financial planning - they are still assuming the News Homes Bonus will stay around but nobody knows what will happen to it.

"I've asked the question, do we stand to be better off by keeping all our business rates and nobody knows the answer to that."

The budget will be voted on by the entire council in February before it kicks in.

COUNCIL TAX

WORCESTER City Council controls just 11 per cent of the household bill, meaning a two per cent hike would cost taxpayers an average of just £3.21 a year but be worth £100,000 to the authority's coffers.

Last year the Tory leadership opted to freeze the bill in return for taking a reward from the Government worth the equivalent of a one per cent rise.

The leadership is still undecided about whether to stick to a suggested rise of two per cent or not and will await details from Mr Osborne on December 23 around the general budget funding and the new 'cap' before taking anything forward for a vote.

The city council is currently assuming a rise of 1.94 per cent, so it comes in under a two per cent 'cap'.

The true impact on the public will only be known when Worcestershire County Council, which controls 72 per cent of the bill, confirms its proposed hike - which is expected to also be two per cent, despite inflation being negative.

County Hall could up it more, if councillors wished, as Mr Osborne has given councils in charge of adult social care the option of increasing their portions of the bill by whatever the 'cap' is plus two per cent.

CAR PARKING

LAST year the Tory cabinet decided to slash parking charges, bringing back a flat £1 charge after 7pm and charging people as little as 40p for 30 minutes at selected sites.

Now it wants to keep those low rates in place, saying it helped retailers and made the city more attractive to have some of the best deals in the region.

When the prices went up during a time when Labour ran the council in 2013, it led to criticism from city traders, with around 30 High Street names and 150 shoppers signing a petition.

The fees are worth more than £2 million to the council's coffers, making it a political hot potato.

BINS

ONE detail in the cabinet report is how the controversial outsourcing of rubbish collections could save less money than hoped for.

Until now the leadership had been targeting a £500,000-per-year saving by getting one or more private companies to collect rubbish, sweep streets and maintain parks.

But that target has now been revised down to £400,000, which is believed to be more realistic.

The city council hopes to strike a deal from September 2017, which could include bin rounds in Malvern and Wychavon too.

HOMES BONUS

Around £700,000 of money from central Government as a reward for building new homes will be included in next year's budget.

The New Homes Bonus rewards councils for pushing through new property building and is worth more than £12 million to the city alone by 2020.

Before this year's General Election Labour suggested it would scrap the fund if it was able to get into Government, with Hilary Benn calling it "regressive".

The city's Conservatives had previously resisted putting the fund into the general budget but relented last year, saying the time had come to prop up frontline services with it - something opposition Labour councillors see as risky.