FINANCE

Council tax cap to remain at 5%

Council tax increases will be kept at the 5% cap next year, Labour have confirmed.

© Loch Earn / Shutterstock.com

© Loch Earn / Shutterstock.com

Council tax increases will be kept at the 5% cap next year, Labour have confirmed.

Kemi Badenoch yesterday in the Commons questioned the Prime Minister about the threshold limiting the amount councils can increase council tax by without a referendum.

Keir Starmer responded that MPs ‘will know what the arrangements are', prompting the Conservative leader to respond: ‘I think the house would have heard that the Prime Minister could neither confirm nor deny whether the cap on council tax was being raised.'

The PM's press secretary later confirmed: ‘The threshold remains the same.'

Government statistics show the average band D council tax set by local authorities in England for 2024-25 was £2,171, which represented an increase of £106 or 5.1% on the previous year.

FINANCE

LGA steps in to address North-South housing tensions

By Paul Marinko | 22 January 2025

Sector tensions between the North and South over out-of-area placements have prompted the Local Government Association (LGA) to form a working group to help ...

FINANCE

Local authorities ask for permission to raise council tax above referendum threshold

By Dan Peters | 20 January 2025

More councils have pleaded with ministers to increase their council tax above the 5% referendum limit without holding a poll, it has emerged.

FINANCE

National Insurance compensation is 'total shambles'

By Dan Peters | 13 January 2025

The Government’s handling of compensating councils for the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions (NIC) has been attacked as a ‘total shambl...

FINANCE

Councils to join AI drive

By Martin Ford | 13 January 2025

Local government will be asked to assist in a drive to develop the infrastructure and skills base needed to harness the potential of artificial intelligence ...

Popular articles by William Eichler