Plans to increase Staffordshire County Council tax by almost 5% have been passed.

The tax rise means residents living in Band D properties will pay £1.24 extra a week for county council services. Their total county council tax bill will be £1,360.62 for 2021/22, with extra to pay for borough or district council services and police and fire service precepts – and town or parish council costs if they have one in their area.

On Thursday county councillors voted to approve the 2021/22 budget and council tax plans, as well as the strategic plan and medium term financial strategy (MTFS) for the years leading up to 2026. A named vote was taken and 49 members backed the proposals, with 10 against.

Councillor Mike Sutherland, cabinet member for finance, told members the future financial gap faced by the authority had been caused by circumstances beyond its control, including a reduction in funding and increased demands for services.

He said: "The coronavirus has had a profound impact on the work of this council throughout 2020 and 2021.

"There is a high level of uncertainty in the MTFS (Medium Term Financial Strategy) due to a number of factors. The full impact of the pandemic on the local and national economy is not yet clear and this could have wide-reaching consequences.

"There are a range of significant risks which need to be carefully monitored and managed, most notably around the provision of care services.

"The position for 2021/22 is a balanced one but there remains significant gaps in later years. These gaps reflect the level of financial uncertainty in the future and also the longer-term impact of the pandemic. It is proposed that further cost reductions and one-off resources be used to balance the budget in future years until the Government provides more clarification on future funding levels."

The meeting was told that the authority has one of the lowest council tax levels amongst counties in England.

But Councillor Charlotte Atkins, leader of the opposition group, said: "The Covid pandemic has exposed vast inequalities that exist in our nation between young and old, the well off and the disadvantaged, white and ethnic minority communities. Covid-19 has had a devastating impact on the most vulnerable in our communities, pushing more people on low incomes into poverty and dependence on food banks and local support groups.

"That's the climate in which the council is now to demand an almost 5% hike in council tax, with over half of it for social care. At the same time the council is planning an additional £47.7m in cuts by 2024, by simply asking residents to pay more for less.

"The Government has failed after four years to deliver on its pledges to resolve social care crisis – a crisis they created by their relentless cuts to local government. The county council has to use the sticking plaster of an additional 3% rise in council tax to tackle the social care shortfall.

"This is shameful, because council tax is a highly regressive tax as it's not linked to income. The poorest tenth of the population pay 8% of their income on council tax, while the richest 40% pay just 2% or 3% of their income.

"That's why it's so wrong to ask residents to stump up a 5% hike at this time, when families are facing so much hardship, so much poverty and stress."