HE will report a balanced budget for the next year but Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s finance chief has warned that further savings will need to be made for the council to avoid a deficit in 2016/17.

Councillors on the borough council’s Cabinet are set to approve a balanced budget for 2015/16 after finding £917,000 in efficiency savings and budget reductions.

As part of the proposed budget, which will need to be approved by all 60 councillors in February, council tax is set to be frozen for the fifth year in a row.

The freeze means the cost of the borough council’s services for an average household would stay at 29p per day.

However, as part of the plans, a two per cent increase in fees and charges, including long-stay parking fees in council-owned car parks, would be put in place, but free 30-minute parking in the Top of The Town would be maintained.

The local authority is also proposing to allocate an additional £975,000 next year to support the delivery of priorities in the Council Plan.

This includes earmarking money to keep community safety patrollers on the streets and taking forward the drive to make the Top of The Town a more vibrant place.

It is also proposed to earmark a total of up to £4.5million to invest in new ways of tackling homelessness in the borough – building on over £600,000 already invested to help Sentinel Housing Association buy 17 homes, that can be used to support people who would otherwise be forced into bed and breakfast accommodation.

However, the Cabinet member for property, finance and commissioning, Councillor John Izett, has warned that further savings will need to be found if the council is to avoid a deficit in 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19.

He told The Gazette: “The council remains in a strong financial position and this is a balanced budget with no debt. I think this is quite an achievement given that the Government is continuing to reduce grants – it has gone down another 31 per cent compared to the year before.

“We are doing it by continuing to find savings in our own cost base again and it is something like £1million. But, what I think is important, is not only are we able to do that and we are also maintaining services for residents but, in fact, enhancing some of those services.”

He added: “Yes, there is a likelihood that based upon the budget position to date, there will be a small increase necessary in council tax to provide services otherwise we are going to be in a deficit situation.

"It is a year away and there are so many variables so is it impossible to see. We are going to be leaving no stone unturned in continuing to report a balanced budget.”

The borough council's Cabinet is set to approve the budget for the next financial year tomorrow before it is debated at the next full council meeting on February 26.