Clash over looming council tax increases

BRANDED 'BIGGEST TAX RISE EVER' BY TORIES

- By JAMES ROBINSON Reporter

THE leader of Northumberland Labour has hit out at the Conservative-led administration at County Hall after concerns were raised around future council tax rises.

It comes after the county's Labour MPs welcomed an additional £73.2m in funding for the council by 2029, on top of £25m already provided this year.

However, the Government's own figures show that just £12.6m of this cash will come from Westminster, while the rest - equating to 82.8% of the total £73.2m additional funding - will come from local taxpayers.

The Tory administration has branded this as the “biggest local tax rise ever” and criticised the Government for providing more cash for urban areas over rural county councils.

But Labour leader Coun Scott Dickinson has pointed out that the council has increased council tax by the maximum level allowed for the past eight years - most of those pleas of poverty under a Conservative Government.