Councils in Britain’s rural areas, shires and suburbs are hiking charges on the public as Labour’s ‘fiddled funding formula’ sends local government funding to its heartlands.
People face paying more for parking, public toilets and even pest control in a bid to balance the books after Labour directed additional funding to urban areas.
Labour has weathered a fierce backlash for targeting central Government funding on areas classed as ‘deprived’ and away from wealthier rural areas, in plans announced in December.
Its ‘radical overhaul’ of local government funding has seen more money directed to areas such as Birmingham, Bradford, Hounslow and Luton, with the most deprived 10 per cent of councils seeing a 24 per cent per head boost.
Following Labour’s announcement, three quarters of county unitary councils warned residents that charges for leisure services and parking in their areas would rise, according to a County Councils Network report.
And the Daily Mail has now found councils in Britain’s rural areas are more likely to be raising charges than councils in metropolitan Labour strongholds.
Runnymede Borough Council, for instance, will increase charges for garden waste collections and cemetery fees, while use of sports facilities like bowling greens and cricket pitches will become more expensive.
The council’s co-leader Dom Whyte said it does not have the luxury of maintaining fees ‘given where the finances of Runnymede stand’ with a ‘£3.9m budget challenge to address’.
Use of sports facilities like cricket pitches and bowling greens will become more expensive
Parking charges are also increasing rapidly across several shire councils.
Tariffs will rise by 20 per cent at authority owned car parks in Sudbury, Hadleigh and Lavenham in Suffolk, Babergh District Council has said.
And new parking restrictions in Billinghurst, West Sussex are ‘having an effect on the high street’ and driving people away from local businesses, residents have claimed – with drivers receiving £100 fines from the council.
Reform-led West Northamptonshire Council meanwhile, is planning to end two hours of free parking at weekends and remove discounts for blue badge holders this month as part of its 2026-27 budget.
Wiltshire Council is also set to put up varying charges this month.
The cost of getting married in an approved venue will rise from £630 to £675 if the wedding is held on a Thursday or Friday, while the price of a burial will rise by 4.2 per cent. The council will also charge a surplus for oversized coffins, and for erecting a headstone.
Meanwhile, the cost to hire a rat catcher for three visits will increase by £6, and wasp nest removal charges will increase by £3 to £88.
The council has also increased discretionary levies – which can be applied without being required by law.
This means Wiltshire Council will now introduce a licence-fee of £350 to keep a pet-monkey, a £1,277 fee to open a zoo, and charge £2,284 for those wanting to open a sex shop.
Reform-led West Northamptonshire Council is planning to end two hours of free parking at weekends and remove discounts for blue badge holders as part of its 2026-27 budget
Somerset Council will bring in a charge for new garden waste bins, a rise in wedding certificate fees and reducing the number of days the council continues to pay for a care home room after a resident has died, from five days to two.
Shadow housing minister Gareth Bacon branded Labour’s changes to local government funding ‘overtly partisan’ and accused the Government of ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’.
He added: ‘Councils that are losing out are now increasing charges in order to make up the difference. Many will end up hiking council tax and cutting services too.
‘Local communities are paying the price for Labour’s fiddled funding formula. Only the Conservatives will ensure a fair deal for residents across the board.’
And Joanna Marchong of think tank the Adam Smith Institute said that these charge increases ‘deter growth and footfall, reduce activity, and place further pressure on struggling communities’.
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: ‘Our changes are the most significant step yet to make English local government more sustainable.
‘We have introduced the first multi-year funding settlement in over a decade to give councils the certainty they’ve asked us for, and we are investing more money into the most deprived communities.
‘Because of our reforms, by the end of the decade the top 10 per cent of most deprived areas will have 45 per cent more spending power than the least deprived.’