Council tax rises 'set to average 1.6%' next year

Council tax rises across England are expected to average 1.6% next year, according to an unofficial survey of local authorities.

If confirmed when councils finalise their plans in February, the figure would be around half the 3% increase this year and the lowest recorded in the past decade.

And 34 of the 81 councils which responded to the Local Government Chronicle (LGC) survey said they are planning to freeze or cut the tax in 2010/11.

Those planning a freeze include Manchester City Council and 16 London boroughs, said the LGC, while Conservative-controlled Hammersmith and Fulham said it was planning for a 3% cut.

Shadow chancellor George Osborne last year promised a two-year council tax freeze by saying any English authority keeping its rise below 2.5% would receive the same amount in additional Government funding. Today's figures suggest a majority of councils will benefit from this offer if the Tories win power in the general election.

But shadow local government secretary Caroline Spelman said the survey suggested council tax bills are still rising faster than inflation, which currently stands at -1.4% on the retail price index or 1.1% on the Government's preferred CPI measure.

Today's figures would mean an average £23 hike in bills next April, bringing the tax on an average Band D home to £1,437 a year, she said.

"Council tax is Gordon Brown's most painful stealth tax," said Ms Spelman. "Under his watch, council tax bills have doubled while frontline services like weekly bin collections have halved. You pay more and get less under Labour.

"As Scotland benefits from yet another council tax freeze, hard-working families and pensioners in England face council tax bills of £120 a month from next April. Only a Conservative Government will work with councils to freeze council tax bills south of the border."

Today's survey suggested that not every council taxpayer will benefit from Town Hall restraint. Eight councils said they expected to boost their council tax by 4.5% or more, six of which were districts and two metropolitans.