More authorities may reject freeze in council tax

Disappointing that so many councils are now likely to increase council tax next April…

Although national government announced a freeze in council tax recently it was actually an offer of financial assistance which could help councils avoid any increase. Whether they take the offer is up to each council.

At the County Council we had already decided to freeze it for 2012 before the government announced the scheme to help. So the announcement meant our ‘draft’ decision for a freeze in 2013 as well instantly became a certainty.

Three years out of four of zero council tax rises by Staffordshire’s new Conservative County Council.

The first year after Labour was just too early to get the finances straight enough to go for zero but we kept it to a minimal 1.9% rise… still much less than the previous Labour administration had ever managed in their 29 unbroken years in charge of Staffordshire.

It remains to be seen how many of the local district and borough councils in Staffordshire decide on zero or go for an increase next April. The fact the vast majority of the total council tax bill is set by County Council should minimise the overall impact.

But it is still important that councils recognise the challenges that people have got and do the decent thing.

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