West Norfolk Council declines to comment on possibility of raising council tax by 5% following Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's Autumn Statement

West Norfolk bosses were unable to comment on Government plans which could see residents told to pay 5% more in council tax.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced plans in today's Autumn Statement allowing local authorities to increase levies by that amount without referendums.

Previously, the maximum a council could raise council tax by without garnering public approval was 2.99%.

However, in a bid to fund the social care sector, Mr Hunt and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have now increased that threshold.

This means that, theoretically, West Norfolk Council now has the power to put up residents’ bills by 4.99% with no vote - and if implemented, this would see the average household have to fork out more than £2,000 per year.

The Lynn News approached the council prior to the Government’s Autumn Statement being made to ask if it had considered whether or not to make use of this new power if given the chance.

We were told it was premature for any comment due to councillors being unaware of details at that stage.

A spokesperson added that any changes to council tax would need to be taken into consideration in the authority’s budget setting process, with final decisions being made by cabinet and council.

The borough council was invited to provide any additional comments following the release of the Autumn Statement.

Alun Ryves, an Independent borough councillor, said that asking residents to vote for tax increases is futile anyway.

He said: “This is a completely pointless gesture as it is rare that turkeys vote for Christmas.”

Cllr Ryves also believes that the borough’s financial reserves could allow the council to “freeze their element of the bill if the political will was there”.

However, he added: “Bluntly, you get what you voted for and if you voted Conservative then you have to accept responsibility for these outcomes.

“Banging a few saucepans in the street won’t help, but intelligent voting in the elections of May 2023 will.”