Member

With all of these varied income streams and sources, as well as commercial activities, council tax income does not clearly illustrate the overall financial position based on the tax charges and grants received by the local authority. To illustrate this, for the financial year 2025-26, council tax in Wokingham represents 80% of core spending power—the funding available for councils to spend on services—compared with less than 40% in Middlesbrough. It is known that council tax income is distributed unevenly across the country. Every £1 increase for band D bills in Kensington and Chelsea, about which we have already heard, raises £1.15 per dwelling, whereas the same increase in Liverpool raises only 54p. That is simply a result of the value of homes and land in those different areas; it is not because of the work, activity or stewardship of the local authority or the demands of the political leadership in setting levels of council tax.