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Residents could be polled over council tax rise

Residents of Kirklees Council could be asked if they approve of a rise in taxes as their local authority looks to save £70million in the next three years.

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Stark warning over council cuts

A cash-strapped Yorkshire council has told its residents to brace themselves for more tough times ahead.

Kirklees Council in West Yorkshire has already made deep budget cuts. Now it needs to go further and "drastic options" are being considered.

In the firing line are libraries, museums and open-air markets and council tax payers could soon be asked whether they want to pay more to save some of them.

Chris Kiddey reports:

Government warn against council tax rises

In response to the Kirklees Council leader saying a referendum might be necessary to allow the authority to raise council tax by more than five per cent, the Local Governments Minister has warned that taxes should be kept down.

In a statement, Kris Hopkins said central funding was being made available to authorities that choose to freeze council tax and that it was "vital" councils helped to reduce the deficit:

Council tax has come down by nearly 11 per cent in real teams nationally because extra central funding is on the table to help hard-working people with the cost of living, in stark contrast to when bills doubled before 2010. That is why we want every council to freeze their council tax and why we have offered extra central funding to councils that choose to freeze bills.

If Kirklees agrees at full council to increase council tax it should put the decision to referendum and trust the will of local people and give residents the power to veto high council tax rises. It is vital that councils continue to play their part in reducing the deficit by making sensible savings to protect frontline services and keep council tax down.

– Local Government Minister Kris Hopkins

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Council leader: Jobs will go

Thousands of jobs are set to be lost at Kirklees Council as the authority looks to save a further £70 million by 2018.

The council's leader David Sheard says residents could be polled on whether to approve a five per cent rise in council tax.

He told Chris Kiddey jobs would be lost in the coming years:

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