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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of (a) the expected financial impact on household budgets of assuming full take-up of council tax referendum flexibilities when calculating transitional protections, (b) the number of local authorities that have requested or are expected to request additional council tax flexibility beyond the core principles in light of ongoing financial pressures, (c) the criteria his Department will apply when assessing such requests, including the treatment of authorities already above average council tax levels, and (d) the implications of these assumptions for the overall distribution of Core Spending Power over the multi-year Settlement; and if he will publish the Department’s analysis of alternative scenarios in which councils do not fully utilise the 3 per cent core limit and 2 per cent adult social care precept.

a) Council tax is managed by local authorities, which decide what level of council tax they wish to set. The government intends to maintain a core referendum threshold of 3%, and a 2% adult social care precept and will consult on the principles in the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement. Any authority that wishes to set an increase above its threshold must seek the approval of voters in its area.

The government will continue the existing policy that any protection available through funding floors assumes local authorities use the full council tax flexibility available to them, which will be set out through the Referendums Relating to Council Tax Increases (Principles) Report at the provisional Settlement. Assuming full take up of council tax flexibility balances allocating funding to support authorities adjust to their new allocations and targeting funding to places with higher needs.

The government expects councils to consider all levers at their disposal to manage their financial position ahead of making requests for Council Tax flexibilities, which should be a last resort and will only be granted where levels are below average.

b) The Department expects that a small number of authorities may seek additional council tax flexibility in exceptional circumstances. Requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis, as has been the approach in previous years. No decisions have yet been taken on individual requests.

C) In assessing requests for additional flexibility, the government will consider evidence of significant financial difficulty and whether additional increases are critical to managing financial risk. Requests will not be granted where council tax levels are already above the national average. Taxpayers will remain at the forefront of Ministers’ considerations.

d) We will publish multi-year local authority allocations, including funding for transition and year-on-year Core Spending Power changes, at the upcoming provisional Local Government Finance Settlement later this month.