In what will come as welcome news to both householders and local authorities across the UK, Chancellor George Osborne will announce later today that Council Tax in England will be kept at its current rate until 2013.
The news that the Government will find £800 million from Whitehall “underspends” to redirect to councils in England who need the cash to keep Council Tax at its current rate, will be announced at the Conservative’s party conference in Manchester today and will be greeted rapturously by the delegates at the meeting. Mr Osborne will also divert equivalent amounts to the devolved parliaments in other parts of the UK to enable Council Tax to be frozen there.
It is certainly good news for households in all corners of the UK where rises in energy, household insurance and food have put financial pressure on many families. On average each household in England will benefit to the tune of £72, not much but still welcome. Mr Osborne said he was aware that the savings could have been used elsewhere to perhaps stimulate growth in the economy but he saw more value using the cash in this way. “I wanted to help families and pensioners with the daily cost of living” he explained.
The money may well be the only help some households receive for quite some time as the chancellor said he had no intentions of cutting taxes for the remainder of this parliament, which is due to last until 2015. When asked about tax cuts he said: “We’ll see how things develop in the rest of this parliament. I’m a Conservative who believes in lower taxes. They lead to a more enterprising economy. But I’m not somebody who believes you can fund lower taxes by borrowing more money because that is a deceit and the public are smart enough to see straight through it.”