Biggest council tax increase in three years as four in 10 town halls refuse to freeze bills
Shoddy headline – fortunately Clive Betts does set out the broader context in this article which tells us:
Local Government secretary Eric Pickles has said town halls had a moral duty to freeze council tax for people struggling with rising household budgets. He set aside £450m over two years as part of the autumn statement package to help support the freeze.
But figures published today show that only 61 per cent of local authorities – 257 out of 421 – have are accepting cash from Whitehall to fund a council tax freeze.
The remainder have decided not to use the grant money, and instead of increased the tax for millions of home owners from the beginning of next month.
Official figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government show thatin England the average Band D council tax is going up by 0.8 per cent in 2013/14.
The increase, from £1,444 to £1,456 is the biggest increase for three years since 2010/11. Last year the tax increased by 0.3 per cent and zero per cent in 2011/12.
Clive Betts, the chairman of the Commons’ Communities and Local Government committee, said councils were turning their backs on the money because of concerns it would not be available in future years.