"Megalomaniac dictator” Vladimir Putin is behind financial woes in Welwyn Hatfield, a councillor has said, urging his colleagues not to lay blame at the doors of the Government.

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council will hike council tax and raise some fees and charges from April in a scramble to balance its 2023/24 budget – a legal requirement for all local authorities.

This year’s budget, agreed on Wednesday, February 1, will see a full price cinema ticket at Campus West will jump 11.8 per cent – from £8.50 to £9.50.

Council-contracted fitness classes will rise from £7.20 per session to £8.

Motorists will face some of the largest price increases, with the cost of an annual ticket for Hatfield Multi-Storey rising by 37.5 per cent – from £200 to £275. The three-month season ticket will set drivers back £95 – up 90 per cent from £50 in the current financial year.

A resident “first vehicle” street parking permit will rise by 33.3 per cent from £30 to £40 and a garden waste “brown bin” collection will set residents back £50 per annum.

Council tax will rise by 2.97 per cent – which will put Band D “average” council tax at £230.76 per month for the next financial year.

Rent rates on properties owned by Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council will rise seven per cent, which is the maximum increase allowed, which will put the average rent at £121.89 per week.

Cllr Jonathan Boulton (Con, Brookmans Park and Little Heath) said the authority must be “clear” as to what and who has caused high inflation and rising costs.

“It is not fair to put it all at the feet of the current government,” he said.

“It is fair to put it all at the feet of Putin for invading another country and weaponising energy supplies.

“A large chunk of this is a result of a megalomaniac dictator trying to remove the liberties and freedoms of people in Europe.

“If we in Britain have to accept a slightly harder economic environment in exchange for supporting Ukraine, I think that’s a modest price compared to what they’re having to pay.”

Councillor Stephen Boulton (Con, Brookmans Park and Little Heath), who is responsible for resources at the council, has warned that although this year’s income and outgoings tally up, the same process “won’t be easy in the future”.

He said: “I’m not here to defend the government, not in this chamber.

“Because of money not coming in from central government, obviously this council has had to make difficult decisions, and I don’t apologise for that.

“If we hadn’t made difficult decisions, we would be in a situation where we would be ready to go bust.

“There are councils in the country which are going bust.”

Over the past five years, several councils have issued “Section 114” notices which mean they are unable to spend cash on non-essential services.

These include Northamptonshire County Council, which was disbanded in 2021, Slough and Thurrock.

Cllr Stephen Boulton added: “Obviously, if we had been in the financial situation where we didn’t have to put up council tax, we would have preferred that.

“Obviously, if we had been in the situation where we didn’t need to raise charges, we would have preferred that. But we weren’t in that situation.

Cllr Stephen Boulton added there remain funding gaps in the day-to-day budget in the medium term, including a £2.13million gap in 2024/25 alone.

He pointed out that the price of goods and services rose by more than nine percent in the 12 months to December 2022, which has affected the council’s outgoings.

Members of the Conservative group in charge told opposition councillors they would “be open” to hearing suggestions to balance future budgets.

Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr Paul Zukowskyj (Welham Green and Hatfield South) said: “The principles and directions in this budget are not ones we subscribe to.

“We will not be supporting it.”