Rise in council tax is among UK’s highest

Average council tax bills in Barnet are to smash through the £1,000 barrier from April when they will rise by a quarter.

In what is thought to be among the highest increases in the country, Barnet Council confirmed this week that bills will rise by 24.95 per cent, meaning an average band D household will now pay £1,134.61 a year. Neighbouring Enfield has agreed a 15 per cent rise, while Haringey is heading for a 19.4 per cent increase.

Tory council leader Victor Lyon confirmed the rise on Friday, saying: "I don't think any council tax payer is going to be happy paying this sort of increase."

Liberal Democrat leader Monroe Palmer claimed the Tories could have limited the increase to 13 per cent if they had agreed a curb on bureaucracy and the use of private consultants. But Mr Lyon accused central Government of short changing the council, by giving it an extra £13.1million but telling it to spend an extra £14.25m on the borough's schools alone. He added that the council lost out on £7m of Government funding because of lower than expected census figures, and inherited a £10.9m shortfall from the previous Labour/Lib Dem administration although Labour deny this.

"If we hadn't taken the action we did as an administration," said Mr Lyon, "we would probably be charging figures well into the 30 per cents. We could have made cuts but that would have impacted directly on front line services, which we are committed not to do."

More money will be going towards special needs education and foster care, and there will also be extra funding for CCTV, townkeepers, refuse, street cleaning, green waste, leisure facilities and highways, he said.

The Greater London Authority's share of the bill which includes levies for the police and fire brigade increased by 29 per cent to £224.40, while Barnet Council's share rose by 22.75 per cent giving a total increase of 24.95 per cent.