Lib Dem leader sets out plan to tackle unfair council tax during Essex visit

The Liberal Democrat leader said redistributing government subsidies more effectively rather than reforming council tax was the best way to overcome the unfair nature of council tax. He was speaking during a campaign visit to Chelmsford, where the Liberal Democrats are in a tight race to overturn the Conservatives’ majority of more than 17,500 votes.

Chelmsford City Council has said that without additional funding from central government, the current 24/25 year will be the last time it will be able to balance its finances without making significant changes to its services.

Ed Davey said the priority should be to review how grants are allocated and that “the best way to help city taxpayers is to ensure that central government provides fair grants to local authorities”.

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However, he said that while he acknowledged that some less wealthy areas were being “mistreated”, equalisation should be achieved through grants rather than an overhaul of the council tax system.

His position is in contradiction with that of the IFS which considers that a reform of the housing tax is necessary and urgent. The house prices on which it is based have not changed since 1991, despite 30 years of significant changes in the real estate market, and these changes have made the tax regressive.

The IFS has illustrated the main problems with our current council tax system: it is outdated and highly regressive in terms of property values. Average property values ​​have increased very differently across England since properties were assessed under council tax – about twice as much in London as in the north-east of England.