Council leader says he'd 'love' to cut council tax bills - but says it's 'not going to happen'
Council leader rules out freeze on council tax bills next year
A West Yorkshire council leader has ruled out a freeze on council tax next year, telling a meeting “it’s not going to happen.”
Coun Stephen Place said he would “love to cut council tax,” but said the newfound stability in Bradford Council’s finances is dependent on a 4.99 per cent council tax rise in the coming years.
The Reform councillor was questioned on the levy after delivering his first Leader’s Report at last week’s full Council meeting.
In the report he pointed out that Bradford was coming out of Exceptional Financial Support two years early.
In 2024 Bradford Council faced being unable to balance its books – which would effectively leave it bankrupt.
The Government stepped in to offer Exceptional Financial Support – meaning the council would be able to borrow money to fund its day to day operations.
The support came with a number of caveats including the sale of millions of pounds worth of financial assets to reduce the borrowing level, and that council tax rises by a certain amount each year.
The authority had originally estimated that it would need £570m in Exceptional Financial Support by 2030.
At a meeting of the council’s Governance and Audit Committee last month, members were told that the authority’s more stable financial position was based on the assumption that council tax would rise by 4.99 per cent in future years.
After Coun Place referred to the more stable financial situation in his Leader’s Report last week, Coun Suhail Choudhry (Lab, Bolton and Undercliffe) asked: “Given that we will be coming out of exceptional financial support two years early, and given that we have been given a significant increase in funding from the Labour Government, will you be proposing a 0 per cent increase in touncil Tax over the next two years, and what cuts will you be making to balance the books?”
Coun Place replied: “I would love to reduce council tax, we all would wouldn’t we? But unfortunately under the EFS (Extraordinary Financial Support) we’re not allowed to. It wouldn’t work, it’s not going to happen.W