23 February 2006
Town halls are on course for average council tax increases of 4% — well within the government's 5% capping threshold but still ahead of the rate of inflation.
A Local Government Association 'snapshot' survey of 112 authorities published this week showed that 70% have set council tax rises of between 3.1% and 5%, while 28% had pegged increases at below 3%.
LGA chair Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart said it was a credit to councils that many had kept rises so low. 'There is £2.5bn spent on civil servants issuing directives and guidance, prescribing performance indicators, overseeing bid funding schemes and regulating and inspecting local authorities,' he said.
'By cutting down on this bureaucracy, the money could then be ploughed back into frontline services.'
However, the survey also revealed that four authorities had breached the 5% threshold, including Surrey Police Authority, which is proposing a 5.8% precept increase.
Liz Campbell, chair of the authority, told Public Finance that police performance demands meant the authority could not afford to stand still and had gone for the lowest possible option.
'We don't want to be capped. We haven't done this in any way to draw any attention to ourselves. We've set what we think is a pragmatic budget,' Campbell said.
An Office of the Deputy Prime Minister spokesman told PF that capping criteria would not be drawn up until the department had seen all relevant figures at the end of March.
But he confirmed that 11 'stiff letters' have been sent out to authorities proposing high rises, warning them that ministers were prepared to use their powers for the third successive year.
PFfeb2006
