FAMILIES HIT BY 5% RISE IN COUNCIL TAX
Pandemic burden to be passed on in household bills
TWO thirds of England’s major councils plan to impose a 5% council tax hike in April, Mirror research reveals.
Millions of bills will tip over £2,000 for the first time as Tories pass the burden of the pandemic on to hard-hit families.
Of 147 English councils providing social care that we analysed, 93 were planning the maximum 4.99% rise. Six were planning a rise of between 4.90% and 4.98% at the time of our research.
Just five were planning rises below 2%, and not a single council was planning a rise of below the 0.7% inflation rate – despite unemployment surging.
About a quarter of social care councils will issue a bill to Band D homes of over £2,000 in April, figures confirm – most for the first time. Annual bills for a Band D home in 2021/22 are due to rise by at least £50 in well over two thirds of areas.
It comes after years of above-inflation rises, which councils say they have no choice but to force on residents to close funding gaps from central government.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced authorities would be able to raise council tax by 1.99%, plus 3% for cash-strapped social care, in a bid to raise £1.9bn.
The Local Government Association said 85% of this year’s 4.5% rise in town hall “core spending power” is from council tax rises. A spokesman said: “They have never been the solution to the longterm pressures faced by councils.”
Families also face smaller rises from parish and district councils, and fire and police authorities, in their final bill.
Those in the capital face a 9.5% rise in the portion of council tax charged by the Greater London Authority. London mayor Sadiq Khan said: “The Government have left us with little other option.”
Tory ministers say they will not take “lectures” when council tax “doubled under the Labour government”.
But Shadow Local Government Secretary Steve Reed said: “Rishi Sunak’s £2billion council tax bombshell will be clobbering families all over the country.”
Our figures are based on public documents and the most recent available rate proposed to councillors – who can still overturn the proposals.
Search for your council tax rise by postcode at mirror.co.uk/counciltax
SOME 90% of parents are afraid their children’s education will be damaged in the future because of the pandemic, research reveals.
Amid what many perceive as a home-schooling nightmare, seven out of 10 mums and dads said they feel guilty they are not spending enough quality time with their offspring.
And more than three quarters feel overwhelmed by the extra workload they are facing during lockdown, the Currys PC World poll found.
To add to their woes, more than half of those surveyed said they could not access their own laptops, phones and tablets during the day because other family members were using them.
Worryingly, almost a third said they do not have the right resources to help with home-schooling.