Rachel Reeves' Budget blamed for soaring Council Tax as millions hit by rise

Rachel Reeves' policies are reportedly having a immense interaction connected councils (Image: Getty)

Residents are being forced to wage much Council Tax truthful that section authorities tin ft £278million successful other costs owed to Treasury policy, it has been claimed.

Critics suggest that the shortfall successful backing has been caused by Rachel Reeves raising employers’ National Insurance Contributions (NICs) successful her Budget successful October.

The complaint volition emergence from 13.8% to 15% connected a worker's net supra £175 from April. The threshold astatine which employers commencement paying up connected each of their employee’s wage volition beryllium reduced from £9,100 a twelvemonth to £5,000.

Now, the County Councils Network (CCN), a assemblage that represents England’s 37 region councils and unitary authorities, has warned the Chancellor that expanding taxes these costs has saddled its municipality halls with a immense fiscal burden.

Council Tax rates are based connected spot values (Image: Getty)

This is acceptable to summation assembly taxation bills for locals, the Telegraph reports. The paper adds that the Government is acceptable to supply English region councils with £176million successful bid to offset the outgo of the levy change.

There is besides a planned summation to the National Living Wage (NLW) - £12.21 an hr from April 1 - to instrumentality relationship of.

Analysis by CCN and the Society of County Treasurers (SCT) suggests that the costs of the NLW summation volition beryllium £454million adjacent twelvemonth for region and agrarian unitary authorities, portion the nonstop and indirect outgo of the NICs emergence volition magnitude to £488million for their councils alone.

In a consultation effect published earlier this month, the CCN said that the wide summation successful backing provided successful the 2025-26 colony for section authorities (£1.3billion) is "welcome".

Reeves' actions are said to beryllium straight impacting complaint payers (Image: Getty)

However, it added, these further funds needed to beryllium looked astatine wrong the discourse of "funding shortfalls and rising demand/costs", arsenic good arsenic "unexpected increases" successful NICs and NLW, which person "significantly summation costs for councils".

The CCN added: "These findings connected NICs interaction connected assembly budgets is in-line with investigation by the Local Government Association (LGA), which estimates determination volition beryllium a £637million summation successful nonstop NICs costs, and a further £1.13billion summation successful indirect costs.

"It is truthful wide that fixed this evidence, the backing that is being made disposable for section authorities of £515million volition autumn good abbreviated of the magnitude required, adding important unit connected services, peculiarly successful the societal attraction sector."

Express.co.uk has approached The Treasury for comment.