That kind of fiscal « downloading » is also a way to keep wealth within your council, and poor areas can just get bent because they’ll have more needs, but the least ability to get revenue.
(If council’s primary revenue source is council tax within their own council).
That would be nice... but councils can only increase tax by <2% per year, and most of their revenue comes from a 'grant' by central government, which has been cut ~40% in the last decade.
Yep - "egoistic firewalling" is basically how Tory HQ sold the strategy to the local authorities they controlled (peppered with rebalancing some formulas so that they would get more than in the past, taken from more deprived areas they didn't control); then turned around and slashed so hard, the first towns to declare bankruptcy were their own [1][2][3]. And what do they do in London? Blame councils, of course! [4]
> but councils can only increase tax by <2% per year
The current cap is 2.99% and the 2020-21 plans are for 3.99%, which is split between the core principle and the adult social care principle. It is unlikely that many councils will increase it by less than the fully-permitted amount.
Also council tax increases in the recent past have capped at 5.99% some year~s and many actual increases were between 4.5% and 5.5%.
My council (in the North) already announced they will not ask for the full rise, but something like 1%. That's because they are well aware of the recent trend and they know the local population is feeling the heat.
I expect more will follow, because their seat is on the line - so few people vote in local elections, that minimal aggravation can quickly escalate into major upturns. They'll just cut more and more until there is nothing left.
> My council (in the North) already announced they will not ask for the full rise, but something like 1%.
That's fascinating - I'm genuinely intrigued where. Are you sure it's 1% total, not 1% of a sub part?
But one council doesn't disprove what I said (it was more of an opinion to be honest though). The first 10 search results I found were all 2-3.99%. I did say the "full amount" though - I'll knock that down to at "at least 3%".
(If council’s primary revenue source is council tax within their own council).