Local authority leaders have challenged both the Halifax Bank of Scotland and the Government over claims of huge council tax rises. HBOS has said average council tax bills have increase by 91% since 1997 – almost three times higher than the rate of inflation, and significantly higher than the 51% increase in average earnings. According to data from the Department of Communities and Local Government, the Scottish Executive and National Assembly for Wales, the average council tax bill rose from just £564 in 1997-98 to £1,0778 this financial year. The largest increase was in Monmouthshire, where council tax bills rose by 184%, followed by Powys, 150%, and Westminster, where bills rose by 150% and 149% respectively. Richmond-upon Thames LBC has the highest average council tax bill, at £1,665 a year – some 106% higher than in 1997-8 – while the Wandsworth LBC has the lowest average bill, at just £641 – some 65% higher than in 1997-98. Local Government Association chairman, Sandy Bruce Lockhart, dismissed the HBOS report as ‘nothing more than a rehash, rehashing a rehash of information that has been in the public domain for years', although he acknowledged the association supported arguments that council tax had been forced up to a level which people could not afford. He slated local government minister, Phil Woolas, for distancing the Government from council tax increases and claiming that funding for local authorities had been increased by 40% since 1997. ‘We have been pointing out for more than a year that the real increase is just 14%, and we expect the Government to be more honest and straightforward about these figures, if we are going to work together,' he told The MJ.
