Council tax bombshell will see households hit by £523 additional on their payments

On Feb 18, 2024

Households face a £523 tax bombshell as the quantity taken in council tax is on target to have greater than doubled for the reason that Tories got here to energy.

Figures buried in Office for Budget Responsibility paperwork counsel households shall be compelled to pay the worth as native authorities teeter on the brink.

The annual quantity raised from council tax is because of attain greater than £57.4billion by 2028, which shall be greater than twice the £25.3billion it stood at in 2009 when Gordon Brown was PM. An evaluation by Labour, reveals this can work out as a mean £523 additional per family when adjusted for inflation.

It comes as hundreds of thousands of households in England are anticipated to see their council tax payments rise in April. Most native authorities are set to extend charges by 5%, which might add round £100 to a typical band D council tax invoice.

Many councils have been compelled to make cuts to companies – together with social care, libraries and bin collections – after they’ve been hit by dramatic cuts to the funding they get from central Government prior to now 14 years. Birmingham, Nottingham and Woking councils are amongst those who have declared themselves successfully bankrupt, with warnings others are on the brink.

Angela Rayner stated the Tories have “left working people paying more for less, with the council tax bill set to double since Labour was last in government”. The Labour Deputy Leader stated: “After 14 years of economic mismanagement, any blame for a rise in council tax lies squarely with this Conservative government.

“Rishi Sunak’s raw deal has left working people worse off and seeing the services they rely on crumbling around their ears. Taxpayers counting the costs of this £57billion Tory bombshell while councils have been hollowed out by 14 years of failure. Labour is under no illusions about the scale of the problems we’d inherit if we win the election when it comes to the crisis in local government.”

Ms Rayner added: “There is no magic wand but instead a long, hard slog to work with councils to rebuild from the ground up to deliver the services taxpayers need and deserve. A Labour government will start by providing integrated, long term funding settlements to local leaders, giving them greater certainty and the ability to plan for the long-term.”