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<p>In 2013-14, Lancaster District Council increased their council tax level (including
parish precepts) from £204.70 to £209.07. Based on their tax base in 2012-13, this
would have raised the district £190,000 in additional council tax revenue. However
by increasing their council tax level, they also gave up their Freeze Grant allocation
worth £85,000 so their net gain was £105,000.</p><p> </p><p>The table below shows
the information above and the additional revenue raised by the County, Fire and Police
and Crime Commissioners in Lancaster in 2013-14. The figures for the precepting authorities
show the amount of additional council tax raised in Lancaster district and the freeze
grant figures are the value of the freeze grant for the proportion of their tax base
in Lancaster district.</p><p> </p><p><em>Additional Council Tax raised in Lancaster
in 2013-14 (£)</em></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td colspan="2"><p>Council
Tax Levels</p></td><td rowspan="2"><p>Additional Council Tax</p><p>Raised in 2013-14</p></td><td
rowspan="2"><p>Value of Freeze</p><p>Grant forgone</p></td><td rowspan="2"><p>Value
of Freeze</p><p>Grant received</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Authority</p></td><td><p>2012-13</p></td><td><p>2013-14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Lancaster</p></td><td><p>204.70</p></td><td><p>209.07</p></td><td><p>190,000</p></td><td><p>85,000</p></td><td><p>-</p></td></tr><tr><td
colspan="6"><p><strong><em>Additional Council Tax and Freeze Grant forgone by precepting
authorities in Lancaster (i.e. the Lancaster share of the Lancashire totals)</em></strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Lancashire
County Council</p></td><td><p>1108.30</p></td><td><p>1086.13</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>494,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Lancashire
Fire Authority</p></td><td><p>63.65</p></td><td><p>63.65</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>28,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Lancashire
Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable</p></td><td><p>149.93</p></td><td><p>152.92</p></td><td><p>130,000</p></td><td><p>67,000</p></td><td><p>-</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In 2013-14, Lancashire County Council received a Freeze Grant
worth £4.3 million in total and Lancashire Fire received £300,000. While Lancashire
Police’s increase in council tax level raised them a total of £1.4 million in additional
council tax, they gave up a Freeze Grant allocation worth £706,000, so their net gain
was £697,000.</p><p> </p><p>In 2014-15, Lancaster District Council increased their
council tax level (including parish precepts) to £213.35. Based on their tax base
in 2013-14, this will raise the district £159,000 in additional council tax revenue.
However by increasing their council tax level, they also gave up their Freeze Grant
allocation worth £92,000 so their net gain was £67,000.</p><p> </p><p>The table below
shows the information above and the additional revenue raised by the County, Fire
and Police and Crime Commissioners in Lancaster in 2014-15. The figures for the precepting
authorities show the amount of additional council tax raised in Lancaster district
and the freeze grant figures are the value of the freeze grant for the proportion
of their tax base in Lancaster district.</p><p> </p><p><em>Additional Council Tax
raised in Lancaster in 2014-15 (£)</em></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td
colspan="2"><p>Council Tax Levels</p></td><td rowspan="2"><p>Additional Council Tax</p><p>raised
in 2014-15</p></td><td rowspan="2"><p>Value of Freeze</p><p>Grant forgone</p></td><td
rowspan="2"><p>Value of Freeze</p><p>Grant received</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Authority</p></td><td><p>2013-14</p></td><td><p>2014-15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>
</p><p>Lancaster</p></td><td><p>209.07</p></td><td><p>213.35</p></td><td><p> </p><p>159,000</p></td><td><p>
</p><p>92,000</p></td><td><p> </p><p>-</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="6"><p> </p><p><strong><em>Additional
Council Tax and Freeze Grant forgone by precepting authorities in Lancaster (i.e.
the Lancaster share of the Lancashire totals)</em></strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Lancashire
County Council</p></td><td><p>1086.13</p></td><td><p>1107.74</p></td><td><p>802,000</p></td><td><p>403,000</p></td><td><p>-</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Lancashire
Fire Authority</p></td><td><p>63.65</p></td><td><p>63.65</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>24,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Lancashire
Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable</p></td><td><p>152.92</p></td><td><p>155.96</p></td><td><p>113,000</p></td><td><p>57,000</p></td><td><p>
</p><p>-</p><p> </p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In 2014-15,
Lancashire County Council’s increase in council tax levels raised them £7.2 million
in additional council tax, but they gave up a Council Tax Freeze grant worth £4.3
million, so their net gain was £2.9 million. Lancashire Fire received £305,000 in
Council Tax Freeze Grant. Lancashire Police’s increase in council tax level raised
them a total of £1.2 million in additional council tax, but they gave up a Freeze
Grant allocation worth £706,000 so their net gain was £474,000.</p><p> </p><p>Council
Tax Freeze Grant is placed into the baseline: so by not freezing, councils have lost
out on ongoing extra funding from central government.</p><p> </p><p>I would add that
the ‘gain’ in these cases to the local authority is actually a ‘loss’ to taxpayers:
as they are the ones who have to foot the bill for higher taxes. Local authorities’
primary duty is to their local electors. We would encourage every local authority
to take up the offer of additional council tax freeze funding available in 2015-16
to help hard-working people with the cost of living.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
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