PLANS to charge motorists an extra 20p per crossing of the Itchen Bridge are set to be approved next week.

Along with a 2.99% council tax hike – which equates to £41.30 a year extra for Band D homes, the changes form part of Southampton City Council’s new budget, as it looks to save more than £15 million by 2021.

Significant cuts are also tabled, including around £4 million from the adult social care budget, despite the authority already making across-the-board savings of £136.4 million over the last seven years.

The recommendations come after more than 900 residents took part in the consultation of the draft budget, which the authority claims more people agreed with than disagreed.

Council leader Christopher Hammond said: “After seven years of government austerity, it gets harder and harder to balance the books.

“We’re only left with really difficult decisions about how we spend our money and the services we provide.

“I would like to thank everyone who took the time to comment on the consultation, and give their views about our budget proposals.”

The authority added that only 17% of its budget is made up of council tax funds.

Nevertheless, if approved at both Cabinet on Tuesday (Feb 19) and Full Council next Wednesday (Feb 20), the extra crossing toll is expected to raise £510,000 a year for the city council.

However, Cllr Hammond has confirmed this will go towards maintaining and upgrading the bridge, with the introduction of contact-less payments also expected “soon”.

Currently it costs cars, and small vans, 50p to cross the bridge (60p at peak time), but the new charge will see this rise to 70p (80p) from April next year.

This will be the first rise of the toll in two decades.

Other changes to be brought in include a new Adult Social Care charging policy and extra fees council housing residents wanting to use certain services.

The councillors’ expenses budget is also set to be reduced, which will save the council £35,000 per year.

As reported, the budget also includes the decision from the council to close the Glen Lee care home in Bitterne, which it hopes will save around £1 million a year.