Council bills to rise 1.95 per cent in Hull, as spending of nearly £80m approved on job-creating City Plan

Hull Council has earmarked £78m for projects including improvements to the Fruit Market arts quarter and the city’s New Theatre in time for City of culture in 2017. They are part of the City Plan which aims to create 7,500 jobs.

The budget set at the city’s Guildhall this afternoon includes a 1.95 per cent increase in council tax - just under the level that would trigger a referendum. Unions, who joined a demonstration outside the Guildhall, said continued Government funding cuts would threaten another 400 jobs over the next four years.

Labour said despite “breath-taking” cuts, they had chosen to take “brave” investment decisions. But the Liberal Democrats said £45m borrowing to finance projects would result in “more consultants, an attempt to build a berth for a boat that will never dock in Hull and a conference centre that is going to be a drain.”

Unison convenor Sarah Littlewood said they wanted a “coordinated fightback” against austerity cuts.