What Woking council tax bill hikes of £100 tell us about rest of UK
Households in Woking could face a council tax increase of more than £100 this year, after the Government gave the borough council permission to raise the tax by up to 10 per cent.
The Local Government Association (LGA), the membership body for local authorities in England and Wales, told i the rise in Woking sheds light on a wider UK picture, with councils “struggling to balance budgets”.
The LGA added that there are “significant challenges” expected in 2024/25 and beyond in terms of council funding.
Nearly all English councils with responsibility for social care are set to raise their council tax rates by the maximum possible amount from April, with council groups warning that the £600m boost for local authorities announced last month may not fix long-term funding issues.
County Councils Network, a subgroup within LGA, said they still face a budget shortfall of £1.1bn over the next two years.
Woking Borough Council is one of four effectively bankrupt local authorities in England – along with Birmingham, Slough and Thurrock. The Government gave permissions for these councils to raise council tax by up to 10 per cent for the 2024/25 year.
The council’s leader, Ann-Marie Barker, said in January that the Government considered an “up to 10 per cent” increase to be “appropriate and proportionate”.
Surrey County Council, to which Woking residents pay a larger portion of their council tax bill, is among the nearly 95 per cent of local authorities in England to have announced a 5 per cent council tax rise.
This is the maximum for non-bankrupt councils.
Ms Barker said that Woking Borough Council’s tax increase would see the rate for an average band D property rise by just 50p per week, equating to roughly £26 per year given that portion of the bill is currently £263.12.
But Woking residents also paid a base council tax rate of £1,675.08 to Surrey County Council in 2023/24, a 5 per cent increase on which would be just over £83.
Meanwhile, Surrey Police has increased the portion Woking residents owe it by about 4 per cent, increasing the bill by another £13.
Households are thus in line for a total increase of more than £100 on their council tax bill, up from £2,248.77 last year to £2,371.60 from April.
Also outlined in Woking’s new budget proposals were a “council-wide staff restructure,” reportedly resulting in the loss of up to 60 staff members, and changes to various services aimed at delivering over £8m in council savings.
These include the closure of most public toilets, a “scaling back” of grounds maintenance and street cleaning services to “statutory levels”, and increased fees and charges across a “variety” of as yet unspecified services.
Woking’s 2024/25 budget, including revised council tax rates, is expected to be confirmed on Monday 4 March.
Speaking of the UK more widely, Councillor Peter Marland, chair of the LGA’s Resources Board, warned that council budgets will be stretched “to the limit” over the coming months and years despite the additional government funding.
“Without further funding, some councils will find themselves struggling to set balanced budgets in 2024/25 and potentially unable to do so as they look forward to 2025/26,” Mr Marland said.
“The amount of funding available to councils is out of line with the requirements placed upon them. As well as needing to address this, any incoming Government needs to give urgent attention to the entire system of funding local government to deliver vital local services, including reform and legislative change”.
Elsewhere in the UK, local councillors fear Birmingham’s plans to raise its rate by 21 per cent over the next two years could drive residents away from the city.
The cash-strapped council of Thurrock in Essex will hike its council tax requirements by 8 per cent following a 10 per cent rise last year.
Slough, which is yet to confirm its 2024-25 budget, is aiming for a 8.5 per cent increase that could mark an annual rise of well over £100 for the average household.
North West Leicestershire District Council is set to increase its share of council tax for the first time in 15 years, with residents also facing an additional 5 per cent hike in their tax rate for the Leicestershire County Council.
The local authorities with the lowest published rises in council tax are Hartlepool at 2.99 per cent and Rotherham at 3.5 per cent. Wandsworth is one of few confirmed to be freezing its council tax at the current rate, aside from increasing the amount it spends on social care.
Council tax across Scotland has also been frozen for the coming year.
Wales does not have the same 5 per cent cap on council tax increases as England, so proposed hikes have ranged from 3 per cent in Cardiff to between 16 and 21 per cent in Pembrokeshire.
In Northern Ireland, Mid and East Antrim has set out the largest increase at 9.78 per cent, while the lowest is in Lisburn and Castlereagh at 3.98 per cent.
What does a council tax bill rise mean in real terms?
Council taxes go towards funding services run by local authorities, including the provision of social care, bin collections, libraries, parks and other recreational facilities, and even police and fire services.
But high inflation, energy price spikes and increases to the National Living Wage have pushed up the cost of delivering these services, according to the LGA.
There is also a rising demand for social care and an increased need for homelessness support amid rapidly rising rents and a shortage of affordable homes.
Councils in county areas get 67 per cent of their funding from council tax, with the average for England’s local authorities at 56 per cent.
With some local services already being cut down in Woking and other constituencies across the UK, increasing council tax may go some way towards ensuring other services remain operational.
Mr Marland said the £600m funding boost from the Government would help meet some pressure faced by local councils this year, particularly in adult and children’s social care, but that more is likely needed.
He added: “With fair, sustainable funding and multi-year settlements councils can plan ahead and help to deliver against national priorities such as economic growth, housing, net zero support for families and children and improved health.”
