Council tax will rise for 40% of households
By Oliver Hotham
Almost half of English households will see their council tax rise, despite increased government incentives to freeze rates.
The rise is happening because police and fire authority precepts, added to the council tax, are going up.
According to the survey by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), around 43% of households will see an increase in their council tax, but not by more than four per cent.
Communities secretary Eric Pickles last month criticised Labour councils for raising taxes despite the incentives which saw millions of pounds flow into local government last year.
But shadow communities secretary Hilary Benn responded defending Labour in local government: “In these tough times, Labour councils are doing all they can to keep council tax low and on average residents pay less in council tax when they have a Labour council.
“This year Tory citadels like Surrey, Peterborough and Chelmsford are putting up their council tax even though CLG ministers – who talk a lot about local decision making – have made it clear that they will use new powers to penalise them next year for doing so.
“David Cameron should get his own house in order before he starts criticising Labour. Eric Pickles’ plans will mean significant council tax increases for low paid workers next year because of changes to council tax benefit.”
The CIPFA statistics show an increase of £4.39 a year.
According to the survey, 15% of councils will raising taxes, eight per cent of which are “principal” local authorities like city councils, London boroughs, and metropolitan and unitary authorities.
The grant on offer for freezing council tax is equal to 2.5% of a council’s revenue base.
