Mapped: UK’s biggest council tax hikes as nearly all authorities planning on maximum rise allowed

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Nearly all councils are planning to lift council tax by the maximum quantity permitted with out holding a referendum, new evaluation exhibits, amid a disaster in native authority funding.

All however eight of the 136 top-tier councils to have declared their proposals plan to hike council tax by not less than 4.99 per cent in April, in response to evaluation by the County Councils Network (CCN).

And in some areas the soar can be even larger; 4 councils not too long ago compelled to declare efficient bankruptcy – Birmingham, Woking, Slough and Thurrock – have been given particular dispensation by the federal government to lift council tax by as much as 10 per cent.

Thurrock has opted to lift its tax by 7.99 per cent, whereas Birmingham, Woking and Slough are amongst 17 councils but to declare their tax plans for the monetary yr forward.

The 95 per cent of councils discovered to be searching for to impose the maximum rise represents a big rise from the 75 per cent of councils discovered to be planning to take action in analysis carried out on the similar time final yr, the CCN stated.

The proposed will increase general imply the typical Band D family will face a median enhance of £103 over the following yr.

The choices to lift council tax payments are pushed by the size of the monetary pressures authorities stay underneath, regardless of the government’s current emergency injection of £600m, the CCN stated.

In the final six years, eight native authorities have issued a bit 114 discover, which is in impact a declaration of chapter. Prior to 2018, the final time a council had been compelled to take action was in 2000.

Experts concern extra councils may quickly observe, with a Local Government Association survey of council leaders discovering in December that nearly one in 5 assume it is extremely or pretty probably they might want to problem a bit 114 discover both this yr or subsequent.

Sam Corcoran, Labour chief of Cheshire East Council and CCN vice-chair, stated councils must make “some of their toughest decisions” due to elevated prices and spikes in demand for social care providers.

He added that, whereas the extra funding offered by the federal government would make a tangible distinction and shield providers, the delicate state of council funds means council tax payments needed to rise to make sure sustainability.

The CCN’s membership of 37 councils – which serve 47 per cent of the inhabitants in England – acquired £240m of the additional authorities funding for 2024/25. But they’re planning in-year financial savings of greater than £1bn.

Despite this, these councils are stated to be nonetheless going through a collective funding hole of £1.1bn over the following two years.

Mr Corcoran added: “No council leader takes the decision to raise council tax lightly as we know this will add to the cost of living for residents, but councils have had little choice but to put up council tax due to the increased demands, particularly in children’s services.

“The next government must set out a long-term funding plan for councils while also undertaking a comprehensive reform programme to help drive down costs, especially for children’s services and home-to-school transport.”

Some councils have agreed on the maximum council tax enhance however plan to introduce measures to mitigate the influence on residents, such as making support-funding accessible to low-income households, in response to the CCN.

The group has referred to as on the following authorities to implement a “comprehensive” reform programme to drive down prices, together with an overhaul of the legislative framework for varsity transport and motion to scale back charges charged by personal suppliers within the kids’s social care market.

A authorities spokesperson stated: “We recognise councils are facing challenges and that is why we recently announced an additional £600m support package for councils across England, increasing their overall funding for the upcoming financial year to £64.7b – a 7.5 per cent increase in cash terms.

“Councils are responsible for their own finances and set council tax levels, but we have been clear they should be mindful of cost-of-living pressures. We continue to protect taxpayers from excessive council tax increases through referendum principles.”

Additional reporting by PA