Most areas set to increase council tax by at least 4.99% from April

Published

4 months ago

February 19, 2025

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Most councils are set to increase council tax by the maximum amount of at least 4.99% from April.

Government figures released on Wednesday show 85% of the 139 top-tier authorities in England that have proposed or confirmed rises so far are planning to do so by 4.99%.

If local authorities want to raise council tax by 5% or more, they have to carry out a local referendum, under normal circumstances.

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However, six councils in severe financial trouble have been granted permission to increase council tax beyond this level without a vote.

When they are included in the figures, the proportion of local authorities increasing council tax above 4.99% rises to nearly 90% of councils.

A total of 17 councils wanting to increase council tax by 4.99% or more have confirmed their intentions, 122 are awaiting approval and 14 are yet to declare their intentions, analysis by the PA news agency shows.

Councils are facing rising costs, especially in areas where they legally have to provide services such as social care, education, housing and waste services.

As they face more pressure to pay for those services, it is unlikely the council tax rises proposed by senior councillors will be rejected by full council ahead of budgets having to be set by the end of February, or March for some.

Some councils are planning increases below 4.99% – but only 15.

For example, Barnet, north London and Warrington in Cheshire are planning 4.98% increases, while Wandsworth in south London is only planning a 2% rise.

Just seven councils are planning to increase council tax by 4% or less.

They are: Kensington and Chelsea (4%), Doncaster (3.99%), North East Lincolnshire (3.98%), Essex (3.75%), Rotherham (3%), Lincolnshire (2.99%) and Wandsworth (2%).

The six councils granted permission to increase council tax by more than 4.99% are:

Bradford 9.9%

Birmingham 7.49%

Newham, London 8.99%

Somerset 7.5%

Trafford, Greater Manchester 7.49%

Windsor and Maidenhead 8.99%

The Resolution Foundation said the poorest fifth of households across the UK paid 4.8% of their income on council tax in 2020-21, up from 2.9% in 2002-3.

The thinktank identified this share of income was three times more than the 1.5% spent by the richest fifth.

Politics

MP Zarah Sultana who was ousted from Labour announces she is starting new political party with Jeremy Corbyn

Published

4 hours ago

July 3, 2025

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MP Zarah Sultana who was ousted from Labour announces she is starting new political party with Jeremy Corbyn

An MP who was ousted from the Labour Party has announced she is setting up a new political party with Jeremy Corbyn.

Independent MP Zarah Sultana said she and the former Labour leader will co-lead the new party, which she did not provide a name for.

She said other independent MPs, campaigners and activists from across the country will join them, but did not name anyone.

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Ms Sultana also said she was “resigning” from the Labour Party after 14 years.

She was suspended as a Labour MP shortly after they came to power last summer for voting against the government maintaining the two-child benefit cap.

Several others from the left of the party, including Mr Corbyn, were also suspended for voting against the government, and also remained as independent MPs.

However, Ms Sultana was still a member of the Labour Party – until now.

Mr Corbyn has previously said the independent MPs who were suspended from Labour would “come together” to provide an “alternative.

The other four are: Iqbal Mohamed, Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan and Adnan Hussain.

Mr Corbyn and the other four independents have not said if they are part of the new party Ms Sultana announced.

In her announcement, Ms Sultana said she would vote to abolish the two-child benefit cap again and also voted against scrapping the winter fuel payment for most pensioners.

Ms Sultana also voted against the government’s welfare bill this week, which was heavily watered down as Sir Keir Starmer tried to prevent a major rebellion from his own MPs.

On Wednesday, Ms Sultana spoke passionately against Palestine Action being proscribed as a terror organisation – but MPs eventually voted for it to be.

She said to proscribe it is “a deliberate distortion of the law to chill dissent, criminalise solidarity and suppress the truth”.

Ms Sultana said they were founding the new party because “Westminster is broken but the real crisis is deeper – just 50 families now own more wealth than half the UK population”.

She called Reform leader Nigel Farage “a billionaire-backed grifter” leading the polls “because Labour has completely failed to improve people’s lives.

The MP, who has spoken passionately about Gaza, added: “Across the political establishment, from Farage to Starmer, they smear people of conscience trying to stop a genocide in Gaza as terrorists.

“But the truth is clear: this government is an active participant in genocide. And the British people oppose it.

“We are not going to take this anymore.”

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “In just 12 months, this Labour government has boosted wages, delivered an extra four million NHS appointments, opened 750 free breakfast clubs, secured three trade deals and four interest rate cuts lowering mortgage payments for millions.

“Only Labour can deliver the change needed to renew Britain.”