Council tax set to increase by £57 a year
The average council tax in the UK is forecast to increase by £57 a year after the Conservative party reviewed the government's pre-budget report and the decision to cut back on public sector services. It is believed the Alistair Darling is looking to force UK councils to reduce public sector spending by as much as £550 million a year while increasing the council tax receipts by 4% which equates to £1 billion a year. So how will the UK government save £550 million a year?
Despite the fact that council tax is set to rise in the short to medium term we will see a reduction in services with waste collection one of the headline services to be hit. It is believed that more and more councils in the UK will move towards bin collections every two weeks, a situation which many in the UK are already experiencing.
The government has also promised to save £300 million a year via "energy efficiencies" and £140 million a year by cutting sickness and absence within the civil service. While many of these figures seem optimistic to say the least, it also poses the question, if these savings can be made in the short to medium term, why were they not implemented before now?
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