Council tax freeze plan 'flouted'

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29 February 2012 Last updated at 20:50 ET

The government has provided funding for local councils to freeze tax demands

More than 40% of households in England are facing a council tax rise from April despite the government funding a freeze on bills, a survey suggests.

The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy figures show of an average increase of £4.39 a year.

The rise is because police and fire authority precepts which form part of the total tax demand are going up.

There is a bigger average increase in Wales of £25 a year, but bills are expected to be the same in Scotland.

Principal authorities

Last year, every council in England agreed to freeze council tax in return for a share of hundreds of millions of pounds from central government.

However 15% of English councils, including 8% of "principal" local authorities (county councils, London boroughs and metropolitan and unitary authorities), are increasing council tax.

According to the survey 43% of households will see their annual bills go up, often by a few pounds.

That is because the requirement of local police and fire authorities - called the precept - is added to the bill.

The survey shows that 85% of councils in England are freezing council tax.

Of those authorities increasing tax, none are raising it by more than 4%.

Across England, the average Band D council tax bill will increased by £4.39 (0.3%), compared with last year's average which was a decrease of 35p.

'Kick in teeth'

The survey also showed that there are disparities between regions.

The largest average increase for a Band D bill is in the North East where it will rise by or £13.43 (0.3%) while London will see a decrease of £4.19 (0.3%).

Last month, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said raising council tax would be a "kick in the teeth" for hard-working households.

He blamed Labour-controlled local authorities for increasing bills despite the money on offer to councils that promised a freeze.

But several Conservative councils also said they would put up council tax to avoid an even bigger increase next year.

A Labour spokesman said: "Eric Pickles' plans actually mean that council tax will increase for low-paid workers next year.

"And this year Tory citadels like Surrey, Peterborough and Chelmsford are already putting up their council tax."

01 Mar, 2012

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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/uk-politics-17215873
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