Bradford Council will learn next month whether it will be able to raise Council Tax by as much as 14.99 per cent.
The Council announced the potential huge increase last week – an announcement opposition Councillors described as causing “shock across the district.”
And this week the authority gave more details about the proposed one-off tax hike.
Council Leader Susan Hinchcliffe has written to the Government asking for permission to raise Council Tax by more than the maximum allowed 4.99 per cent.
Her request includes options to raise Council Tax by 9.99 per cent, 12.99 per cent or 14.99 per cent in the coming year.
At a meeting of Bradford Council on Tuesday evening Councillors were told the authority expected to hear back from Government by the middle of February.
The Council argues that the one-off rise will help plug the authority’s rising financial black hole.
Bradford Council is currently operating under “exceptional financial support” – using loans to pay for essential services. The Council will have to pay interest on these loans in future years.
Efforts to cut the Council’s budget has led to £48.6m of savings in the current year with a further £43.6m of savings approved to go to consultation by the Executive for 2025/26.
New figures show that from 2026/27 to 2029/30 a further £50m of revenue savings will need to be made each year.
Councillors have been told that people struggling to pay Council Tax after the rise will be offered additional support – but details of that support will not be announced until the Council finds out the size of the Council Tax rise allowed by Government.
At a meeting of Bradford Council’s Executive on Wednesday, Cllr Hinchcliffe said the one off tax rise would mean these loans could be paid off sooner – preventing further cuts or tax rises in future years. She said:
“We don’t know what the Government are going to say in response to our request, and we won’t know until the middle of February.
“This decision was not taken lightly, we know people are struggling with their finances.“We’re working on a scheme to support those on the lowest income to make sure they are sheltered from any increase.
“There was no easy decision here.”
She said that without the rise, Bradford would have to pay higher levels of interest on its loans in future years.
Cllr Hinchcliffe said:
“Is it better to pay more now to make sure our taxpayers don’t have to help pay off higher debt in the future? While people will feel Council Tax is high – Bradford has the lowest Council Tax in West Yorkshire.”
“I don’t want people to confuse the City of Culture budget with the Council budget. The Council budget is dominated by adult social care and children’s social care.
“City of Culture attracted a lot of external money.”
She said just two per cent of the Council’s budget went to sports and culture.
Referring to last week’s Council Tax announcement, Councillor Rebecca Poulsen, leader of the Conservatives in Bradford, said:
“There was shock across the District, from residents and Councillors, when the announcement was made.
“It was completely out of the blue and came after budget proposals had already gone out to consultation.
“Many people are wondering how they are going to afford this level of increase.”
She said many areas of the District also have town or parish councils – to which they have to pay a precept on top of regular Council Tax.
Keighley Town Council was proposing a 12 per cent increase, she said, and for Keighley residents this would be on top of what ever rise Bradford Council is proposing.
Councillor Matt Edwards, Leader of the Greens in Bradford, also raised concerns about many residents’ ability to pay, he said:
“When I went to see Rise (the opening of City of Culture) the thing that struck me was how poverty was such an integral part of how residents view the city. That struck me really hard.
“It is understandable that Council Tax is amongst the lowest in West Yorkshire, but there is good rationale for keeping it that way.
“How can the leader justify making such a massive increase when so many people in the District are struggling?”
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