Council tax bombshell: Millions of struggling families face up to £107 rise, as Government hands town halls £1billion to tackle social care crisis and Wild West Britain violence
- Councils allowed to raise local tax bills by 3% – adding £50 to the average bill
- Local authorities which still have social care precept can add another 2% or £33
- Police precept has also increased to add £24 a year to the average Band D bill
- Figures will make an Band D council tax bill cost up to £1778 a year in 2019/20
Millions of struggling families are facing inflation-busting council tax rises of more than £100 in April, it emerged last night.
Less than a fortnight before Christmas, ministers announced they would allow town halls to increase the levy by 3 per cent – with many also able to add a further 2 per cent to pay for social care.
And they doubled the amount that police and crime commissioners can add to bills to help pay for local frontline policing. This will increase from £12 to £24 on average.
Communities Secretary James Brokenshire (pictured in the Commons today) said councils would be allowed to raise council tax by up to 3 per cent without calling a local referendum
Home Secretary Sajid Javid (pictured leaving home today) said this would part fund a £1billion funding boost for the police he unveiled today
In total, it means a potential rise of £107 for the typical Band D council tax bill, taking average demands from £1,671 to as much as £1,778 next year. This is equal to almost £150 a month.
This increase – equal to an overall rise of about 6 per cent – is more than twice the rate of inflation. It would mean the largest year-on-year rise in council tax for a decade.
Those living in Band E homes face a jump of £131, with an increase as high as £215 for owners of the most expensive houses in Band H.
A big chunk of the increase is designed to help fund a £1billion boost for the police as forces struggle to crackdown on violence in Wild West Britain. Many believe the funding increase is essential, with the number of crimes recorded by police having risen to 5.6million, the highest for more than a decade.
Communities Secretary James Brokenshire announced in the Commons yesterday that as part of the local government funding settlement, town halls would be allowed to put up council tax by 3 per cent from April 2019 without the hurdle of holding a local referendum.
On top of this, he confirmed that some councils would be able to increase the levy by a further 2 per cent to pay for social care. Town halls can only put up the tax by this amount if they have not already increased this so-called ‘social care precept’ by a total of 6 per cent over the past two years.
The Local Government Association said around half of councils have not done this, meaning they will be free to impose an additional rise.
On top of this, Home Secretary Sajid Javid announced that local police and crime commissioners would be allowed to double the ‘police precept’ on bills. For the average property it will rise from £12 to £24.
Overall funding available to the country’s forces next year is rising to £14billion – with council taxpayers paying more than half of the £970million increase.
Last night, John O’Connell of the Taxpayers’ Alliance warned that councils should look to trim spending before imposing the maximum increase available.
‘Councils always claim they are cut to the bone, but our research shows there are still numerous examples of wasteful spending and inefficiencies,’ he said. He also pointed out that although the police have called for more cash ‘we are witnessing a growing trend towards policing free speech on the internet and an obsession with stunts and political correctness’.
He added: ‘Taxpayers want their local police to focus their time and energy on tackling serious and violent crimes on the front line.’ Yesterday, Labour’s communities spokesman Andrew Gwynne attacked the overall increase, saying: ‘Today’s announcement means only two things for households: an inflation busting increase in council tax, and no end in sight for austerity.’
Local authorities can add 3 per cent to basic council tax and raise more money for adult social care and the police with additions to bills
Lord Porter, chairman of the LGA, which represents town halls, said councils should have been given more money directly from the Government – and warned that many would still have to scale back services.
‘Next year will continue to be hugely challenging for all councils, who still face an overall funding gap of £3.2billion in 2019/20,’ he said.
As part of the announcement on police funding, Mr Javid said there would be another £161million for general policing, £59million extra to bolster the fight against terror, £153million to plug a pensions gap and £90million more to tackle organised crime.
Most police funding comes directly from the Government, but around 30 per cent is raised through the policing precept levy. Force chiefs have warned they are struggling to cope after deep funding cuts.