Newark and Sherwood District Council brought in £1m more in council tax

Newark and Sherwood District Council brought in £1m more in council tax during the first three months of this year than the year before, new figures reveal.

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.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government data shows Newark and Sherwood council received £20.02m in council tax between April and June this year.

This was £1.01m more than the same time last year, a rise of 5.3%.

That's roughly in line with the England average, with income from council tax increasing by 5.7% across the country.

Councils across England took in £9.07bn through council tax in the three months to June – an increase of more than £486m 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.

“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.”

A spokesman for the Local Government Association added: "Vital local services provided by councils face a funding gap of more than £5 billion next year.

"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."

The boost to Newark and Sherwood District Council's council tax income follows an average hike of 4.6% on residents' tax bills in April.

Council tax bills for a Band D property – the most common price bracket – in the area now stand at £2,024, up from £1,936 last year.

Average Band D properties in England will set residents back £1,749.88 this year – £78.42 more than in 2018-19.

The cost ranges from a low of £755.46 in London's Westminster, to a high of £2,043.20 in Rutland, in the East Midlands.

An MHCLG spokeswoman said:“Individual councils choose what level of council tax to set and if tax-payers are concerned they can reject excessive increases through a local referendum.

“We’re providing councils with access to £46.4bn in funding this year – a real terms increase on last year.”