£1bn council tax rises ‘will not prevent cuts’

Council tax increases worth more than £1billion will not be enough to offset government funding cuts and prevent further reductions to public services, local authorities have warned.

Councils are planning to take advantage of new freedoms to increase bills by as much as 5.99 per cent, according to research published by the Local Government Association (LGA). But the LGA estimates that the hikes will still not be enough to stop cuts.

A Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government spokesman said: “As part of our finance settlement we are delivering a real-terms increase in resources over the next two years.”