Durham council tax to rise by 1.99 per cent for households

Councillors approved the Reform-led Durham County Council proposal to increase the social care precept while keeping the core council tax charge at the same rate. 

The increase was reduced from a previously proposed 3.1 per cent rise after the local authority received additional funding from the Government last week. 

Andrew Husband, council leader, said: “We are the party of low tax – it’s as simple as that. We are here to fight tax increases.

“Increasing the council tax by any amount is never an easy or comfortable position, but a 1.99 per cent increase in the social care precept with zero per cent on core council tax is significantly below the rate of inflation and the first time this council has done so in many years.”

The decision came at the council’s annual budget and council tax-setting meeting on Wednesday (February 18), which sets out the financial position for the next four years. 

A survey of around 1,700 residents found 69 per cent of respondents supported some level of council tax increase to avoid cuts to local services. 

Council leaders said they have made “difficult choices” to protect County Durham taxpayers, including £12.9 million worth of budget cuts and savings over the next year. 

Changes to the Council Tax Reduction Scheme also mean people on low incomes will lose their previous exemption and most residents will have to pay at least 10 per cent of their tax bills. 

Darren Grimes, deputy leader and cabinet member for finance, said: “Without these measures, we would have needed to increase the council tax by nearly seven per cent to balance the budget, so I fail to see how any of those on the opposite side of the chamber are going to claim that the 1.99 per cent increase proposed is all down to the additional funding we have received from the government. 

“We have prioritised limiting the increase as far as we could and not taken the easy route of just banging up the council tax by five per cent. Our proposed council tax increase is well below inflation and will be lower than almost every other local authority in our region and across the country.

“I’m pretty certain, as far as the North East is concerned, that we are going above and beyond.”

But political rivals criticised the decision to make thousands of residents pay council tax for the first time. 

Rob Crute, Labour leader, said: “The people who elected us to serve them deserve better than council tax increases, higher fees and charges, further cuts to services, increased borrowing, and breaches of promises made to the electors less than a year ago, especially when this council has been handed a lifeline in the form of a significant increase in funding for the first time in a generation. 

“This isn’t what the people wanted, what they expected, and certainly isn’t what they voted for last May. 

Reform gained overall control of Durham County Council in May 2025 after the former Joint Administration, made up of Liberal Democrats, Conservatives, and Independents, led the authority for four years. 

Amanda Hopgood, Liberal Democrat and former council leader, said: “We will not support a budget that increases financial stress to those who already struggle by giving them bills for the first time.”

Chris Lines, speaking on behalf of the Independent group, objected to the rise and called for a “root-and-branch review” of council tax nationally to make it fairer for residents.