Prime Minister responds to council funding cuts in Bedfordshire visit
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said council tax increases are “a matter for the councils themselves”, despite Central Bedfordshire Council warning it has been forced to consider raising it by the maximum amount because of changes to government funding.
The prime minister visited a Family Hub at St Mary’s Church Hall in Goldington, Bedford, today (January 8) to publicise the government’s reversal of the two-child benefit cap.
He also spoke of “a number of measures” which he said will make a big difference for families.
This included £150 off the energy bills for all households, with an extra £150 for the “6 million the poorest households”, frozen prescription charges and rail fares, and free child care for all children between the ages of nine months and four years.
He also spoke of record levels of investment in local government.
Despite this “record level”, Central Bedfordshire Council said it will have a “£17 million shortfall in 2026/27″, rising to £33 million over the next three years, and has little option but to increase council tax by the full 5 per cent.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands that Bedford Borough Council was required to assume a maximum council tax increase as part of the government’s funding framework.
The high council tax increases can hurt the poorest families most, so the LDRS asked how putting council tax up as part of the government funding helps families in poverty.
“The decision actually on council tax is a matter for the councils themselves,” The Prime Minister said.
“As central government, what we’re doing is putting in record amounts of money to those councils… I’m not pretending there aren’t challenges for councils, but the government’s listened, we’ve put in that record amount of funding and changed the structure of the funding.”
In a statement this week, the leader of Central Bedfordshire Council councillor Adam Zerny said the authority had previously been forecasting a positive financial position and hoped to limit council tax increases to 3 per cent, in line with inflation.
“This huge government funding cut forces the council to raise council tax to the maximum 5 per cent,” he said, adding that further difficult decisions were unavoidable.”
Speaking about the decision to scrap the two-child cap, Keir Starmer said: “From free breakfast clubs to family hubs, people right across Bedfordshire are beginning to see the change this government is delivering.
“But I know times are still tough, and so this year we are putting our foot on the accelerator to make life easier and cheaper for families.
“That starts with tackling the outdated and unfair two‑child benefit cap. We said we’d scrap it, and now we are. This is a pivotal moment for our country, giving thousands of children across Bedfordshire the best start in life and providing real help to hard-working parents with the cost of raising a family.”
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson added: “By scrapping the two-child limit and more, we are taking decisive action to lift 550,000 children out of poverty - the biggest reduction in a single parliament since records began.
"Thousands of children in Bedfordshire will be lifted out of poverty, and the free breakfast clubs and expanded childcare we are rolling out will support families at every stage so every child arrives at school ready to learn.”