COUNCIL TAX WILL RISE THIS YEAR IN MANY AREAS DESPITE DEMAND FROM CAMERON TO FREEZE RATES

First published by: The Mail Online

Battleground: The PM has put £1billion into a fund to help Councils freeze taxes - but many are ignoring his plea

Squeezed households across Britain will have to endure soaring Council Tax bills this year - despite David Cameron's pledge to freeze rates. The Prime Minister has offered around £1billion in grants to help councils fund a freeze, but 15 local authorities - including Nottingham, Middlesbrough and Leicester - plan to increase taxes anyway. The councils intending to ignore the Coalition's demand have said they would face a shortfall if they freeze taxes, despite the Government's contribution. They say they would have to cut services including libraries and rubbish collections because of a lack of cash from central government. 

Councils will decide on next year's tax levels at budget meetings in February and March. They are free to impose up to 3.5 per cent rises, although any that want bills to go up by more than 3.5 per cent must put it to voters in a referendum. A furious Eric Pickles warned that voters would punish local authorities at the ballot box if they attempt to increase taxes before 2013. He said: 'Freezing Council Tax is practical help every councillor can offer their constituents. 'Councillors have a moral duty to sign up to keep down the cost of living. Anything less is a kick in the teeth to hard-working, decent taxpayers.' 

For the second year in a row, the Coalition is offering grants equivalent to a 2.5 per cent increase in taxes. But it has not promised to provide any future funding to ease the pain in the years ahead, as it did previously. Rebellious: Local authorities in 15 areas including Nottingham, pictured, said they could not afford to keep taxes frozen because of central government cuts Ten of the rebel councils are Labour-controlled, and five of those - Redcar and Cleveland, Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough, Darlington, and Leicester city - are planning 3.5 per cent rises.

Nottingham is planning a 3.49 per cent rise.

With communities facing tough times with wage freezes and spiralling household bills, Mr Pickles added: 'A vote against the Council Tax freeze is a vote for punishing tax-rises and Labour's opposition to the policy shows their contempt for hard-working households. 'Local taxpayers will remember that decision next time they cast their vote at the ballot box.' Just last month, figures released by Mr Pickles's department revealed local authorities have salted away a staggering £10.8 billion in reserves – equal to almost half the entire annual revenue from Council Tax. 

Defied: Furious Eric Pickles said councils had a 'moral duty' to freeze taxes Whitehall figures show that 142 councils in England have so far agreed to the freeze, but others say they cannot afford it. Green Party-led Brighton & Hove looks set to ignore the freeze and four Tory-controlled councils are also considering rebelling - Chelmsford, Surrey, Peterborough and East Cambridgeshire. Surrey County Council leader David Hodge claimed the freeze would cost the authority £14million this year. 

He told the BBC: 'The difficulty with a one-off Council Tax freeze is that next year you have to find how do you actually take that shortfall, the £14million, every year for ever.' But he admitted it was 'probably right for some councils' to agree to the Government's deal. Sir Merrick Cockell, Chairman of the Local Government Association, said: 'Times are tough, and that is why many councils are keen to help families with a Council Tax freeze, as they did last year. Indeed, the vast majority of councils appear to be freezing Council Tax for next year. 

'The extra government support for the next financial year will help us do that, but it is really important that everyone understands this is a one off grant. Next year it won't be there. 'This means that councils, already facing bigger cuts than any other part of the public sector and delivering vital services to the most vulnerable members of our society, will have to budget for that shortfall. This can only be done on a council-by-council basis. 

'It is only right that councils take a longer-term view on budget planning and that decisions on the level of Council Tax are made by councillors who will then rightly be held to account through the ballot box, which government recognises. 'Local authorities provide vital services that people rely on and in order to carry on doing this effectively councils need to consider the long-term interests of their residents before deciding if they will take the Government's offer up.' 

READ WHAT: ERIC PICKLES ‘SECRETARY OF STATE’ SAYS ABOUT OVER-CHARGED COUNCIL TAX.

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