4% council tax rise will hit us next week
Demand for a freeze as £2,000-plus bills go out
MILLIONS of householders will receive council tax bills in excess of £2,000 next week as town halls put up charges by twice the rate of inflation.
Bills will increase by 3.9 per cent on average, equivalent to £68 on the average Band D bill or £136 on the top Band H bill, ministers revealed yesterday.
In 36 districts across the country, the Band D bill now exceeds £2,000. Last year, only seven districts charged more than that.
But the rises prompted calls for an immediate freeze because of coronavirus. Robert Palmer, of pressure group Tax Justice UK, said: ‘ Now is not the time to be hiking bills given that so many people have seen incomes collapse.
‘The Government should consider suspending the tax for those most in need.’
‘Politicians need to find the guts to fix our broken council tax system alongside a bigger conversation about how we fund vital public services. John O’Connell, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance also called for a freeeze, adding that local authority funds should be freed up for frontline health services.
Mr O’Connell said: ‘Emergencies such as this are why we fight for what we do in normal times – so we can pull together as a nation to see off a crisis.
The specifics may be debated, but in general the Government is right to take action that in ordinary circumstances would be unacceptable. That means redirecting non- essential elements of spending such as foreign aid and some council cash towards fighting the virus, as well as allowing more Sunday supermarket opening hours and protecting residents from punishing local authority rate rises.’
Much of the large increase in council tax bills is a result of the Government’s failure to get to grips with the social care crisis.
Instead of funding the necessary improvements out of central government funds, they have pushed the burden on to local councils.
Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick said in December that all councils would be able to put up bills by 2 per cent without holding a local referendum. On top of this, those with responsibility for social care were given the go ahead to add a further 2 per cent.
The official figures released yesterday show that most councils put up bills by the maximum amount, or very close.
The highest council tax bills are in the tiny county of Rutland, where Band D households will pay £2,125 a year or £177 a month. Those in Band H homes will pay £4,250. Next are Nottingham and Dorset, both on £2,119, followed by Lewes in East Sussex on £2,111.
Council tax bills are sent out by district authorities, and include precepts for county councils, fire brigades and police forces. Some people will face even higher bills if they have parish councils in their area.
The huge increase in Warwick is because of the district council’s bid to put up its share of the bill by 34 per cent to tackle climate change.
The council will be the first in the country to hold a referendum, which it hopes will give them the power to put up their portion of residents’ tax bill by more than 2 per cent.
Richard Watts, of the Local Government Association’s resources board, said: ‘Faced with ongoing funding pressures, councils continue to be left with little choice but to ask residents to pay more to help them try and protect their local services.
‘A sustainable, long-term funding settlement for councils would mean they can improve services and not just keep them going.’
‘Protecting residents’