MALVERN Hills District Council is set to tighten its belt and raise its council tax precept by 2.5 per cent a year over the next three years.

Members of the council’s executive committee recommended that a revised medium-term financial plan should be approved when the full council meets in the new year.

The plan provides the framework within which the council can make its spending decisions for the three years from 2010/11 to 2012/13.

In a report to the meeting, council head of finance Andy Baldwin said the money the council will get from central government for 2010/11 will increase by 1.3 per cent.

Beyond that, it is likely to be reduced because of the economic situation. This has been estimated at five per cent, or £250,000 a year.

As a result, council tax rises of 2.5 per cent are anticipated over the next three years. At the same time, the plan proposes to save £1.35 million by 2012/13 with “permanent ongoing reductions in expenditure”.

Speaking after the meeting, deputy leader Councillor Ralph Madden said: “These are difficult times, no question. We are maintaining the council’s frontline services, but we’re going to have to take a good hard look at other areas. It will be belt-tightening time.”

He said frontline services included rubbish collection and street cleaning which affect the public directly.

The areas to be looked at will be services such as IT, procurement and regulatory services, where shared service arrangements with oth-er authorities will be examined.

Coun Madden said the difficulties would be compounded by falls in the council’s income from fees, particularly planning and, to a lesser extent, parking. Low interest rates are also a problem, as money invested by the council is now earning less than one per cent.

“This is something that all councils are having to come to terms with,” he said. “It’s totally unrealistic to say we can have zero or negative council tax rises.”