Council tax soars to a report excessive – however the service you get remains to be RUBBISH
Struggling families will pay record levels of council tax this year after millions were hit with inflation-busting bills.
Homes across England face paying an average of £2,280 after almost all town halls raised the tax by the maximum 5 per cent allowed, official figures confirmed yesterday.
It means rates for a standard Band D property have soared by 20 per cent in just five years.
And it comes as residents in Birmingham – where bills are up 17.5 per cent in two years – chased bin lorries down the street after a week-long strike left piles of rubbish sacks standing waist high, with rats running rampant.
Hundreds of thousands of households will have to fork out more than £2,500 for council services this year, the new data revealed, while increasing numbers will pay more than £5,000.
Residents in six parts of England face increases above the usual 5 per cent after ministers agreed their struggling town halls needed more cash.
And the Tories pointed out that four of them – Bradford, Newham, Birmingham and Trafford – are Labour-run, while the other two, Somerset and Windsor, are controlled by the Liberal Democrats.
Bin there, not done that: The scene in Birmingham
Squeaky Blinder: A rat enjoys a snack
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch put the failings at Birmingham City Council, where an IT debacle and equal-pay claim has bankrupted Europe’s largest local authority, at the heart of her party’s local election campaign.
At yesterday’s launch, she warned that Labour councils ‘always cost you more and deliver less’, adding: ‘Labour has run Birmingham into the ground. All while Labour councillors gave themselves a pay rise. Don’t let Labour do that to your council – if you vote Labour, you get trash.’
The Conservatives have accused Labour of forcing town halls nationwide to hike bills after Rachel Reeves’ Budget increased National Insurance contributions they have to pay for staff.
Local government spokesman Kevin Hollinrake said: ‘This Labour Government is driving up costs for councils across the country with their jobs tax. It’s no surprise they have raised council tax by 5 per cent, with the highest increases by Labour and Liberal Democrat councils.
‘This has been engineered by Labour, who have left town halls to foot the blame when record bills hit the doormat.’
While opposition leader in 2023, Sir Keir Starmer claimed Labour would have frozen council tax for a year if it had been in power. But since moving into government, no such hold has been implemented.
Bin demand: A specially arranged rubbish collection in Birmingham
Frustrated residents: Police were called when things got out of hand
Residents of Rutland, in the East Midlands, continue to have the highest Band D bills in England, now standing at £2,671. Wandsworth in London is the most affordable, with Band D bills at £998.
Average bills now top £2,500 in 24 different authorities, up from just four last year, as town halls seek to recoup soaring costs and record demand for services such as elderly care and school transport for children with special needs.
Research by The Daily Telegraph found that 4,500 homes will have bills above £5,000 this coming financial year, up from 1,176.
Barry Lewis, of the County Councils Network, warned that Labour risked increasing the divide between residents’ bills by giving more money to urban areas.
‘Today’s figures show that residents in county areas continue to pay some of the highest council tax rates in England, and they pay significantly more than people living in large towns and cities,’ he said.
The group says that despite rising bills, as many as 18 large councils face going bust next year as a result of an accounting change, with another six following in 2027.
In a year, town halls will no longer be able to keep £6 billion in deficits for special educational needs and disabilities services off their balance sheets, meaning they will have to declare they cannot balance their books.
