Council tax payers face paying an extra £107 on average this year but will still see cuts to services like children’s centres and libraries, new research shows.
Bills in England could rise by a total of £1.2 billion from April as town halls take advantage of new freedoms to increase the amount they charge by up to 5.99 per cent.
But the hikes will fail to offset cuts of £1.4billion in funding from central government and additional expenses from the national living wage, the Local Government Association (LGA) warned.
LGA chairman Lord Porter said that despite inflation-busting increases in their council tax bills, households across the country face further cuts to services like parks, libraries and pothole repairs.
Bills could rise by a total of £1.2 billion from April as town halls take advantage of new powers to increase the amount they charge by up to 5.99 per cent. Pictured: Brent Civic Centre
Communities Secretary Sajid Javid announced in December that all councils will be able to raise council tax by up to 2.99 per cent to fund local services – up by 1 per cent.
In addition, councils can increase tax by a further ‘precept’ of 3 per cent if it was earmarked directly for social care. The increase is permitted without triggering a local referendum.
Council tax for a Band D property in England was an average of £1,591 in 2017-18. This will go up to £1,698 this April, an increase of £107, if it rises by 6 per cent plus a £12 police levy.
New research by the LGA found 147 out of England’s 152 social care authorities are considering or have approved an adult social care ‘precept’ in 2018/19.
This will raise an extra £548million in total to pay for adult social care services this year.
The 152 authorities will also raise a further £584million from general council tax, with 108 imposing increases of 2.95 per cent or more, figures showed.
On top of this, if all 88 shire districts use their full council tax flexibility in 2018/19, they would raise an additional £66million to fund local services. This would take the total increase in council tax to £1.2billion next year.
Lord Porter said: ‘Since 2010, council tax bills have risen by less than inflation and other key household bills.
‘But faced with severe funding pressures, many councils feel they are being left with little choice but to ask residents to pay more to help them try and protect their local services.
Communities Secretary Sajid Javid (pictured) announced in December that all councils will be able to raise council tax by up to 2.99 per cent to fund local services – up by 1 per cent
‘The extra income this year will help offset some of the financial pressures they face, but the reality is that many councils are now beyond the point where council tax income can be expected to plug the growing funding gaps they face.’
He added: ‘Extra social care funding will be wiped out by the significant cost pressures of paying for the Government’s national living wage and extra general council tax income will only replace a third of the central government funding they will lose this year.
‘This means councils will have to continue to cut back services or stop some altogether to plug funding gaps.’ LGA research found 64 councils are considering or have approved increasing council tax by the maximum 5.99 per cent.
Just five councils have said they intend to freeze council tax.
The LGA warned that 75 social care authorities – almost half of the total – will be unable to levy a ‘precept’ in 2019/20 after taking advantage of Government permission to bring increases forward in earlier years.
The association is forecasting a funding gap of £2.3billion in services for the elderly and disabled that year.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: ‘As part of our finance settlement we are delivering a real-terms increase in resources to councils over the next two years, more freedom and fairness, and greater certainty to plan and secure value for money.
‘We want to work with local government to develop a new funding system for the future and encourage councils to submit responses to the review currently under way.’