£5.3 million rise in council tax income for Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin councils

But the Local Government Association has warned that many councils are now beyond the point where rising council tax income can plug their funding gaps.

Data from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government shows Shropshire Council received £58.56 million in council tax between April and June this year.

This was £4.01 million more than the same time last year, a rise of 7.3 per cent.

That's one of the biggest windfalls in England, where income from council tax increased by an average of 5.7 per cent.

Funding gaps

Neighbouring Telford & Wrekin Council collected £1.3 million more in council tax during the first three months of the year than last year, the data shows.

The authority received £24.74 million in council tax between April and June this year.

This was £1.27 million more than the same time last year, a rise of 5.4 per cent.

The Local Government Association says that councils have no choice but to increase bills for rate payers, but warns that the hikes will still not be enough to cover the funding gaps faced by local authorities.

A spokesman said: "Faced with severe funding pressures, many councils feel they are being left with little choice but to ask residents to pay more to help them try and protect their local services."

Council tax bills up but ‘still not enough’

The increase in council tax receipts in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin comes against a background of years of cuts in funding from central government, and increasing costs of providing adult social care, caused largely by an ageing population.

The picture is reflected across the country where councils brought in £9.07 billion through council tax in the three months to June – an increase of more than £486 million on last year.

On top of council tax, local authorities also receive funding through central government grants to help them run public services.

But a new parliamentary report from the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee has warned that significant cuts to this government funding has left councils with no choice but to cut back on services.

Uncertainty

“Local government has coped with a prolonged period of real-terms spending reduction which is without parallel in modern times,” the report said.

“The current uncertainty for local government and the lack of funding for services must be addressed as a matter of urgency.”

The comment has been backed up by the Local Government Association, which says rate increases will not cover the gap in funding at councils across the country.

A spokesman said “Vital local services provided by councils face a funding gap of more than £5 billion next year."