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.
Councils’ spending power could rise to £46.4bn next year, a real-terms increase, local government secretary James Brokenshire revealed as he published the provisional settlement today.
Councils and other government bodies are “over-zealous” and “uncompromising” in the way they pursue financially vulnerable people over unpaid debt, MPs have said.
Council leaders have urged the Lords to back a bill to double council tax premiums on empty homes in England in order to tackle a “chronic housing shortage”.
Council tax is no longer fit for purpose and should be replaced with a system that is fairer both across and within generations, says Adam Corlett of the Resolution Foundation.
Council tax should be scrapped and replaced with a charge calculated using more up-to-date home values, a Resolution Foundation report out today has said.
Almost all councils in England are planning to raise council tax and increase charging in 2018-19, according to the Local Government Information Unit’s annual finance survey.
Councils in England will receive an extra £150m for adult social care next year, Sajid Javid announced today as he confirmed the local government finance settlement for 2018-19.
Nearly all local authorities in England with responsibility for social care are set to raise council tax by the maximum 4.99% allowed without a referendum, but the Local Government Association today...