Wednesday 16 November 2022 02:29 AM Rishi Sunak faces backlash over plans to allow local authorities increase ... trends now
Rishi Sunak is facing a backlash over plans to allow local local authorities to raise council tax by five per cent in another blow to millions of families battling soaring bills and a cost-of-living crisis.
The Prime Minister and his Chancellor Jeremy Hunt are poised to lift the decade-long cap on increases, amid warnings that hundreds of local authorities could go bust.
Households will face an average £100 yearly hike in council tax under the new plans to allow town halls to help fund social care, taking their annual bill above £2,000 for the first time ever.
Homeowners in the top Band H could even pay as much as £200 extra, with their bills surpassing £4,000, The Telegraph reports.
Mr Sunak is understood to have approved the plans despite local authorities not being able to increase general council tax by more than two per cent without a local referendum.
In recent years town halls have been allowed to raise an additional 1 per cent to pay for social care, making a total of 3 per cent.
But the proposal have been met with discontent among some Conservative MPs amid fears that the Tory-led councils will suffer at May's local elections as a result.
Bob Blackman, the Conservative MP for Harrow East, told The Times: 'In my view, council tax should be set at a local level. However, by easing or taking away the referendum lock, the political risk is that Conservative-run councils will get blamed for increasing council tax.
'It could make the local elections even more challenging next year.'
And Jonathan Gullis, MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, added: 'It is a very blunt mechanism. Most importantly and worst of all, those who are most vulnerable in bands A to D will be hit in the pocket even harder.
'Hitting people on low incomes even harder in the pocket at the time of a cost of living crisis will undermine trust, particularly in public services where people will question whether they’re getting value for money.'
The Prime Minister and his Chancellor Jeremy Hunt are poised to lift the decade-long cap on increases
Households will face an average £100 yearly hike in council tax under the new plans to allow town halls to help fund social care
The average household will be forced to fork out more than £2,000-a-year on council tax for the first time under Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt's (pictured together) new plans
Mr Hunt (pictured yesterday) is poised to lift the decade-long cap on council tax increases, amid warnings that hundreds of local authorities could go bust
Mr Hunt has already warned of a 'very difficult announcement' in his Autumn Statement on Thursday.
He said: 'But we’ll be asking people who have more to contribute even more. And that will be reflected in our decisions on council tax and every other tax as well.'
A source said that giving town halls more flexibility to raise money would ease the pressure to increase central funding.
'Councils are facing pressure on social care, and the social care levy, which would have raised money to help, has gone,' the source said.
'So there is a case for allowing councils more flexibility where they can make the case for it
