Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2026 to Question 20159 on Council Tax, if she will make it her policy to provide additional financial flexibility and funding to the six councils in order to avoid increases in council tax above the council tax referendum thresholds set for the generality of councils.

The government is committed to ensuring the local government funding system is fair for taxpayers across the country. We have removed referendum principles for six areas to provide the councils with flexibility to manage their financial position. It is for the councils to decide which level of council tax to set.

The six councils that will have referendum principles removed for two years currently have extremely low bills - band D taxpayers are paying £450-£1280 less than the average in England.

This policy has enabled the government to allocate over £250 million more funding to public services in places with higher need, rather than effectively subsidising low bills for 500,000 households in these areas.