Councils outside of London are looking to increase council tax by an average of 3.6%, according to the annual survey by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA).
The survey found that while the majority of councils are looking to increase council tax by the largest amount since 2008, councils in London are maintaining a virtual freeze at 0.6%.
CIPFA said this could be because London authorities are less reliant on council tax than the rest of the country and the Greater London Authority (GLA) has also reduced its precepts.
Rob Whiteman, CIPFA chief executive said: ’Councils have made by far the biggest efficiencies in the public sector and with the Government incentives over the last Parliament council tax has remained relatively static. But things have changed. Councils are effectively being encouraged by Government to raise council tax, which marks a contrast to its stance in previous years.
‘Over the next four years, Government will be making fundamental changes to how councils are funded, essentially withdrawing Whitehall grants by allowing councils to keep more local business rates. This is a very positive move for local democracy, but there must be clarity on the detail of the new system to show how relatively less well-resourced authorities will fare.’
The survey also found the total adult social care precept income for England in 2016/17 will be £385.2m out of a total possible amount of £ 394.3m.
Paul Wheeler writes for The MJ (£) about why councils can go some way to plugging the 'leaky bucket' of local government finance with ramped-up taxation.
