Council Tax
Business rates relief control call
District councils have called for full control over the business rates relief that is awarded in their area amid claims that it is ‘unnecessarily generous’.
Council tax system needs 'fundamental reform'
The council tax system is ‘highly regressive and unsustainable,’ and needs ‘fundamental reform,’ progressive think-tank IPPR has argued.
We need a real debate on local taxes
Piali Das Gupta argues that we need a more sophisticated balance of local revenue sources for local services that would reduce the pressure on any individual tax or set of taxpayers. Many other countries do it – so what are we afraid of?
Press pause on fair funding review
Crippled by austerity and uncertainty, councils are financially paralysed and facing failure. Heather Jameson says it's time to press pause on the fair funding review until central government decides on the amount of cash for local government.
‘Smart bins’ and tax cuts could help increase recycling rates - report
Local authorities could use ‘smart bins’ and council tax cuts to help drive up recycling rates in their areas, a new study has suggested.
Localised council tax support schemes six years on
Stuart Adam and Thomas Pope of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IfS) estimate a quarter of the additional council tax liability created by cuts to council tax support is not being collected, causing problems for households and councils.
London councils unite to reveal pockets of poverty
Deven Ghelani outlines how a collaboration involving 18 London boroughs has resulted in a data analysis showing poverty hotspots and how councils might better support families and households under pressure.
Whitehall pledges to end aggressive council tax debt collection
The way local authorities recover unpaid council tax is to be reviewed by the Government in a bid to protect vulnerable residents from aggressive debt collection.
Plea to fund social care through insurance
A minister has been asked to consider mandatory insurance to ease social care funding pressures in coastal towns.
Wales launches 'resident-focused' council tax reforms
Council tax debtors in Wales will no longer be at risk of imprisonment as part of a new initiative to encourage councils to take a more ‘resident-focused’ approach to debt.
Councils defend council tax hikes
Councils have had ‘little choice’ but to raise council tax to protect local services, the Local Government Association has said, after the latest tax rises were revealed.
A taxing problem
Heather Jameson looks at the latest report from the IFS’s Local Government Finance Commission, which suggests a local income tax would be the best option for fiscal devolution.
Waiting for Godot and the Social Care Green Paper
Public finances are outperforming expectations, but the post-spring statement briefing from the Institute for Fiscal Studies highlighted the need to sort out taxation and those other topics that did not get into the speech. Heather Jameson reports.
Steepest council tax rise in 15 years
The steepest climb in council tax in 15 years in Wales will take place in 2019/20, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) has found.
Council tax rises will not fix ‘chronically underfunded’ care system
Increases in council tax will fail to fix the ‘chronically underfunded’ social care system, local authority leaders have warned.
Council tax bills to increase by an average of 4.5%
Council tax bills are to rise by an average of 4.5% in England from April, according to the latest figures.
County treasurers urge London councils to hike council tax
Inner London councils should increase their band D council tax ‘closer to the national average’ to raise hundreds of millions of pounds, the Society of County Treasurers (SCT) has told ministers.
Council's projected overspend more than doubles
Highland Council has warned of a £5.5m overspend this year, more than double the amount previously predicted.
Dorset to harmonise council tax
The new unitary Dorset Council has announced details of its harmonised council tax scheme.
Haringey officers in reserves warning
Officers in Haringey LBC have warned that the Labour administration’s use of £5.5m of reserves to increase funding for children’s and adults social care is unsustainable.