A public consultation has been launched in which Norwich City Council is seeking people's views about a proposed increase in council tax.

The authority is proposing a 2.01pc rise in the city council's portion of council tax for 2018-19 – a move that would generate about £177,000 in income for the authority which is facing reductions in government funding at the same time as increasing costs.

It would mean an annual increase of about £5 in the amount of council tax a household pays to the city council.

The public consultation is also asking people's opinions on potential changes to the council tax reduction scheme that the authority wants to make to support those on low incomes.

Paul Kendrick, Norwich City Council's cabinet member for resources, said: 'How we balance our budgets under increasing financial strain and plan for Norwich's future in the long term are important issues for everyone who works and lives in the city, as well as its visitors. Please give us your views.'

Norwich City Council has also made £30m of savings in the last few years through a number of ways including renegotiating and re-letting contracts, establishing new ways of working at lower cost, entering into joint ventures, bringing in grants, increasing the number of services customers can access online and investing in commercial opportunities.

The consultation also wants to hear people's opinions on a long-term vision for the city up to 2040.

The city council has started a project to develop this long-term plan and wants to find out the views of residents, businesses, organisations and the voluntary sector on what is important in the city, what its attributes are and the challenges Norwich needs to overcome.

As well as the online consultation, the council is looking to run focus groups, telephone interviews and face-to-face surveys.

Mr Kendrick said: 'Norwich is a success story and has been for almost 1,000 years.

'To keep it so, we must build on our successes, anticipate and keep ahead of change – an inevitable part of modern city life – and seize the opportunities available to us.'

The consultation will run until Wednesday, January 17 2018.

People can fill in the online at www.norwich.gov.uk/consultations