The average council tax bill will rise by just £14 from April after Bradford Council voted through its budget for the forthcoming financial year tonight.

Residents will pay 0.9 per cent more with those in an average band D property paying £1,277.24 a year towards Council services.

The budget decision at the meeting of the full council follows a three-way deal between the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Greens.

The Council budget for next year is £449 million, made up of a Government grant of £272m, income from council tax of £160.2m, and the use of £16.9m from the authority’s reserves.

Intended spending includes: generating £3m by removing the council tax discount for empty homes and second homes and spending £1.2m on an empty homes initiative; £2m on the carbon reduction programme; £350,000 on extending the Warm Front insulation scheme; £350,000 on telecare; £300,000 on the Climate Intervention Fund and £250,000 on pre-school language development.

Savings include: £300,000 by containing expenditure on the annual arts festival; £205,000 with a no side waste and closed bin policy and £200,000 by reviewing the theatres programme.

Conservative group leader Councillor Kris Hopkins said: “We wanted a zero percent increase because we are concerned about the burdens facing people at this difficult time amid uncertainty about jobs.”

Liberal Democrat group leader Councillor Jeanette Sunderland said: “We have proposed a scheme to stimulate bringing empty homes back into use. It cannot be right that we’ve got about 7,000 empty homes and about 9,000 families looking for a home.”

Green Party group leader Councillor Martin Love said he was pleased the budget pumped more money into the Council’s carbon reduction efforts, which will also save money in the long run.

The Labour group’s budget plans would have resulted in a 1.9 per cent rise but only used £9.2m in reserves. Leader Councillor Ian Greenwood said the financial plan voted through was not sustainable, being propped up through one-off money and windfalls.