How nine in 10 councils clobbered us with tax rises
MORE than 90 per cent of town halls put up council tax last year, figures reveal.
They show 331 local authorities increased the levy, while only 23 cut or froze it.
This is higher than the 319 councils that put up council tax on average between 1997 and 2010 when Labour was in power, the TaxPayers’ Alliance said.
It means council tax levels are now 57 per cent higher in real terms than they were two decades ago.
While the average band D household paid £688 in 1997/98, the figure is now £1,591.
The Conservatives imposed a council tax freeze when they took over, but this has been relaxed in subsequent years. There were particularly large increases last year as councils raised funds to deal with the social care crisis.
Council taxes are likely to be even higher in April after Communities Secretary Sajid Javid announced that town halls will be able to increase the levy by 6 per cent.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Councils have been raising tax year in, year out for decades and continue to demand even more.
‘Councillors should remember that council tax is a major burden on residents and a huge contributor to the cost of living.
‘Councils should look to reduce spending before hitting taxpayers with yet another round of painful tax hikes.’
The group’s research tracks whether council tax was raised, frozen or cut over the past two decades. It found that seven years on from the council tax freeze scheme in 2010, the number of authorities increasing the levy has returned to the levels before it began.
The number of councils putting it up has risen from zero in 2011/12 to 124 in 2013/14 to 331 in 2017/18. The average number of increases for the years 1997/98 to 2010/11 was 319.
Last year, only six councils cut council tax and 17 froze it, out of a total of 354 local authorities.
Weymouth and Portland residents pay the highest band D council tax in England – £1,891 – while those in Westminster pay the lowest, £688.
Mr Javid announced at the end of last year that local authorities would be allowed to increase council tax by 3 per cent – up from 2 per cent a year – without triggering a local referendum to seek residents’ approval.
On top of this, they can increase the tax by an extra 3 per cent for social care.
Some residents will be hit with even higher taxes because ministers said the amount raised through council tax for policing could go up.
Surrey Council threatened a 15 per cent increase in 2017, which would have required approval in a residents’ referendum, but dropped the plan after a backlash.
Only Bedfordshire has previously held a referendum to seek council taxpayers’ approval for a 15.8 per cent increase for policing in 2015.
It was overwhelmingly defeated – 69.5 per cent to 30.5 per cent.
Last week shadow fire minister Chris Williamson resigned from the Labour front bench after suggesting a further 20 per cent increase in council tax on band D properties, and a 100 per cent rise on the highest band H properties.
He was accused of speaking outside his brief.
‘A major burden on residents’