CYP Now - Children's social care funding key driver behind council tax increases

Three in four councils are planning to increase their council tax by the maximum amount in April, in order to fund vital public services such as children’s social care, research from the County Councils Network (CCN) has found.

Local authorities are planning to raise council tax in order to fund vital social care services. Picture: Adobe Stock - Adobe Stock

All councils bar one plan on raising their council tax according to the research, with council leaders saying they are setting their budgets in the “most difficult circumstances in decades”.

Out of the 114 councils that have published their 2023/24 budget proposals, 84 councils are set to raise their council tax by 4.99 per cent, the maximum rise permitted.

The CCN’s member councils said that tax rises would allow them to protect and invest in vital services, proposing measures which include investment to create extra school places and increasing funding for vulnerable children in care, following the government’s recently released strategy for reforming children’s social care.

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