Residents of county and rural regions will face ‘maximum council tax rises' under the Government's fair funding reforms, the County Councils' Network (CCN) has warned.
CCN chairman Tim Oliver said the redistribution of funding to urban areas placed a ‘disproportionate burden on council taxpayers in county areas to fund local services'.
Research by CCN found that while 22 rural and county unitary authorities were to receive £845m worth of grant funding increases, 16 authorities will have funding slashed by £470m.
CCN said: ‘Overall, without council tax rises of 5% over the next three years, the analysis shows that 33 of the 38 county and rural unitary authorities would see a real-terms reduction in funding.'
It urged the Government to boost funding for county and rural areas to protect against ‘unsustainable' service cuts.
Cllr Oliver added: ‘Those facing cuts in Government funding will inevitably have to reduce vital frontline services, while the reliance on council tax rises leaves even those with modest funding increases facing an extremely challenging funding outlook.
‘There is still time for government to rethink this and reduce the pressure on county taxpayers. It is simply unrealistic to expect some of England's largest social care authorities to provide life critical services while receiving deep cuts in Government grant over the next three years. It is therefore vital the Government makes more money available to further mitigate the impact of these reforms.'
