Lancashire County Council ‘no choice’ but to raise council tax by maximum amount

County Hall in Preston. Pic: Blog Preston

Lancashire County Council is planning to raise council tax by 4.99 percent at its budget next week.

The increase will push the bill for a Band D property up by £82.50 to £1,735.79. The figure excludes the smaller charges levied by district councils and the police and fire brigade for their services, which make up the overall council tax rate.

The percentage hike is the maximum local authorities are usually permitted without having to stage a referendum on the subject, although the government has this year given some councils the go-ahead for larger increases without putting them to a public vote.

However, Conservative county council leader Phillippa Williamson indicated at a recent cabinet meeting that her authority had experienced the opposite problem.

She said County Hall’s “financial prudence and good management” risked being “penalised by the suggestion we would get reduced funding from government as a result of the potential [for] reducing our council tax bills – a prospect she described as “very disappointing”.

“We really don’t like putting up council tax, but we are in a position where we really have no other choice,” County Cllr Williamson said.

The Labour government says Lancashire County Council will see an £83.9m increase in its ‘core spending power’ – made up of Whitehall grants and the amount it generates from council tax – in the year ahead.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner told the Commons earlier this month that the overall finance settlement for all councils amounted to a 6.8 percent increase in cash terms compared to 2024/25.

She said it marked “the beginning of the government’s commitment to rebuild and stabilise local government and run services that taxpayers can rely on”.

The proposed council tax increase by the county council will generate an estimated additional £32m for the authority in 2025/26, taking the amount it raises from the charge to £682m – almost 55 percent of its £1.244bn planned budget. Under government rules, two percent of the rise is reserved for funding the cost of adult social care.

Cabinet member for resources Alan Vincent said support provided to district authorities – who are responsible for collecting the entirety of the council tax in their areas – to boost collection rates had yielded an extra £3.9m in the current financial year. That came after a previous dip in the amounts gathered in some parts of the county.

Lancashire County Council will set its budget at a meeting on 26th February.

Breakdown

If the 4.99 percent council tax increase is approved by county councillors next week, this is how much households in each property band will pay to the authority in 2025/26 – with the increase compared to last year shown in brackets.

Band A – £1,157.19 (up by £55)

Band B – £1,350.06 (up by £64.17)

Band C – £1,542.92 (up by £73.33)

Band D – 1,735.79 (up by £82.50)

Band E – £2,121.52 (up by £100.83)

Band F – £2,507.25 (up by £119.16)

Band G – £2,892.98 (up by £137.55)

Band H – £3,471.58 (up by £165)

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