£2,000 a year
Typical council tax bill for thousands now hits...
CounCil tax bills for hundreds of thousands of families have hit £2,000 for the first time.
Seven town halls have set their levy for the average band D home at more than that level – the first time charges have been set so high.
it means those in the most expensive band H houses will be ordered to pay more than £4,000 when bills arrive over the next fortnight.
Highest in the country is Rutland – England’s smallest county – which charges band D households £2,043, up 5.5 per cent on last year. The others charging more than £2,000 are Dorset, nottingham, lewes, newark and Sherwood, Hartlepool and Wealden.
last year the highest council tax in the country was £1,991 in Dorset’s now-defunct Weymouth and Portland council. Released by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and local Government yesterday, the latest figures show the average band D household in England faces a £78 hike in council tax from April 1.
This increase of 4.7 per cent is the second highest in a decade, rising from £1,671 to £1,750.
Five areas have put up their bills by more than 6 per cent.
The increases are partly due to hikes to pay for social care and the police. Town halls are not allowed to put up bills by more than 5 per cent without holding a referendum. But a range of other costs – such as fire services, parish councils and police authorities – are added to the bill.
last year police and crime commissioners were allowed to raise bills by £24 – up from the previous £12 maximum.
Robert Palmer of Tax Justice uK said: ‘Since 2010 councils have had their money slashed, with the poorest areas hit hardest, and council tax rising to fill the gap. Council tax-payers want to see their bins collected and potholes in the road fixed.
‘They also want their council to provide decent care for older relatives and friends. But council tax and the way the Government chooses to fund councils isn’t working. The system needs reform.’
Households in Greater london will face the highest percentage increase in their total bills at 5.1 per cent, with the average band D council tax in the capital set to rise by £72 to £1,477 in 2019-20.
Households in ‘shire’ council areas will continue to have the highest average band D council tax of £1,826 in 2019/20, up from £1,749 in 2018/19. The lowest average total band D council tax will be in Westminster at £755, followed by £770 in Wandsworth – the place which has seen the largest increase.
local government minister Rishi Sunak said council tax in England was 6 per cent lower in real terms than when the Conservatives came to power. The MP for Richmond in Yorkshire said charges on a ‘typical’ band D home in Tory- controlled councils were on average £93 less than in labour areas.
He added: ‘Residents’ satisfaction with council services remains high, despite the need to pay off labour’s record deficit. up and down the country, it’s Conservative councillors and councils who have a proven record of managing taxpayers’ money wisely and providing better local services.’
labour said the average council tax per dwelling in local authorities it controls was £351 less for 2019-20 than in Tory-run councils.
The party’s local government spokesman Andrew Gwynne said: ‘The Government has no answers to the dire situation facing our councils. Tory austerity has devastated communities but instead of providing sustainable funding, this Government has shifted the pain onto council taxpayers.’
The local Government Association warned that council tax increases will not end the need for further cutbacks.
Richard Watts, the chairman of the lGA’s resources board, said: ‘Faced with a government funding settlement that assumes maximum council tax rises and such funding pressures, many councils feel they have little choice but to ask residents to pay more council tax again this year to help them try and protect their local services.
‘With councils facing a funding gap of more than £3billion this year, council tax rises will not prevent the need for continued cutbacks to local services. if the Government fails to adequately fund local government as part of the spending review there is a real risk to the future financial viability of some services and councils.’
‘Poorest areas hit hardest’