A reform of the council tax system could see a 50% decrease in payments for people in the most deprived regions of the country, says the Institute of Fiscal Studies.
Council charges for services such as garden waste removal, funeral services and public lavatories have increased above inflation over the last decade, according to The Times.
Local authorities’ biggest source of income also represents the largest area of identified fraud but recent initiatives are changing this, writes CIPFA’s Marc McAuley.
A local income tax would be better than a tourist tax in raising revenue locally for councils, the Institute for Fiscal Studies associate director David Phillips said this morning.
Debate about levels of council tax is doomed to go nowhere unless we consider what we’re willing to pay for services and how, says the Local Government Information Unit’s Jonathan Carr-West.
Welsh councils should ensure they take “early intervention” to stop more households falling into debt as they look to increase council tax next year, a think-tank has said.
Not only has the reduced system of council tax support hit low-paid workers but it has proved remarkably ineffective as a way to raise revenue, says the IFS’ Stuart Adam and Thomas Pope.
The final local government finance settlement has handed Northamptonshire County Council a lifeline by allowing the cash-strapped authority greater council tax flexibility.
Council tax arrears in England are soaring after millions of households have been stripped of funding from schemes to help them with their bills over the last five years.
