One in three councils raising more from charges than tax A new report from the Audit Commission has revealed that one in three councils is now raising more money from fees and charges on residents than in council taxes. Nationally in 2011-12, council tax was twice the £10.2bn in charges, but charges exceeded the tax in one district in three and in one London borough in five. In that 12-month period, the 201 districts in England collected £1.4bn in charges, representing 20% of their total spending that year. Residents paid councils £1.29bn for parking costs in 2011-12, of which £340m came from penalty charge notices. Most of the income received from charges comes from social care services, with councils charging £2.7bn for social care in 2011-12. Sir Merrick Cockell, the chairman of the Local Government Association, said: "Despite facing escalating overheads and the deepest cuts in the public sector, councils are working successfully to keep fees and charges low for hard-pressed residents. However, Sir Merrick warned: "Unless there is a complete overhaul of the way local services are funded we face the very real possibility of local authorities starting to fail their communities."
Posted on: Thu, 26 Sep 2013 07:40:19 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015