Suffolk County Council's element of tax bills is to go up by just under five per cent from April – contributing to a rise of about £60 for occupants of the 'average' home in the county.

Suffolk County Council's tax for Band B homes – the most numerous band Suffolk – will go up by £45.91 a year and the Police and Crime Commissioner's element will go up by £9.31.

District and borough councils will put their bills up by between £3 and £7.90 a year, and in most of the county there will be a precept by parish or town councils.

As a result bills in Ipswich will go up by £63 to £1,387 a year and in other districts they will go up by £59-£60 a year with parish precepts on top. For Band D homes, the yardstick that councils set their figures by, the rise will be between £76 and £81.

The county's element was confirmed when the Conservative-run authority approved the 4.99pc increase, 2.99pc on general council tax and 2pc on its social care precept, by 45 votes to 17.

A Labour motion calling on the council to abandon plans to cut its funding to Citizens Advice Bureaux by £20,000, to boost spending on subsidised bus services by £150,000 and reinstate a £14,500 cut to the Greenways Project which cares for areas of countryside was defeated.

Cabinet member for finance, Richard Smith, said his party was committed to offering good services at good value. He said: 'In the forthcoming year we propose net spending covering the provision of services to Suffolk's residents of £498.4m, that is a figure only just short of half a billion pounds. We should all be proud of this, and we will continue to manage this spending responsibly.'

In outlining the amendment, Labour deputy leader Peter Gardiner said: 'Away from this meeting we want to be part of the debate about what social care looks like in this county. We need to be sure it is not a race to the bottom; that managing down demand means high quality support where it is needed, not a decrease in quality across the board.'

The leader of Liberal Democrat, Green and Independent group David Wood added: 'Across the UK, councils are struggling. We all know this. Budgets are getting tighter and tighter, services are being cut, and at the end of the day it's the most vulnerable residents that will be suffering the most.'