Starmer accused of ‘passing the buck’ as council tax likely to rise

• Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has distanced himself from expected large increases in local taxation, shifting responsibility to councils.
• Councils can increase council tax by up to 5 per cent following last week’s spending review, with the police also granted powers to raise extra funds through a similar precept.
• The Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned of the biggest rise in council tax for two decades as a result of the spending review.
• Sir Keir said that council tax rises are for councils to decide, noting the spending review allows the Labour government to show what difference it makes after a year of stabilising the economy.
• The Local Government Association and Lib Dems criticised the move, saying “passing the buck to local government and asking hard-pressed households to shoulder the burden of mounting council tax bills is deeply unfair”.

IN FULL

Keir Starmer tells councils to pick up the bill for Labour’s spending commitments