{"id":116830,"date":"2026-01-20T11:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T11:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/?p=116830"},"modified":"2026-01-20T10:54:40","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T10:54:40","slug":"council-tax-expected-to-rise-by-4-99-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/council-tax-expected-to-rise-by-4-99-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Council Tax Expected to Rise by 4.99% for Thousands in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Council tax in Rochdale<\/em> is expected to rise by 4.99%<\/strong> in April, as the local authority moves to secure a balanced budget for the financial year 2026\/27. The proposal will be brought to vote at Rochdale Town Hall<\/em> on 25 February, during the council\u2019s annual budget meeting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rise, in line with similar increases seen in recent years, comes as the council faces a growing strain on core services. While no service cuts are planned, pressures from adult social care and special educational needs continue to drive significant spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Budget Increase Driven by Adult and Children\u2019s Services<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The proposed 4.99%<\/strong> rise is part of an ongoing strategy to offset a widening financial gap in service delivery. According to council finance papers, Rochdale Council<\/a><\/em> is currently over budget by \u00a3656,000<\/strong>. While savings of just under \u00a31 million have been achieved, mainly by not replacing departing staff and by renegotiating or ending contracts, certain departments remain under sustained pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adult services and children\u2019s services have been cited as the largest contributors to this financial burden. According to the council, the rising demand for care homes<\/strong> and a growing number of children with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND<\/strong>) are pushing these budgets well beyond original forecasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The budget deficit is projected to increase further over time, with current figures indicating a shortfall of \u00a34.423 <\/strong>million by 2028\/29. Nevertheless, the council has confirmed that it does not expect to introduce cuts to public services this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Government Grants Expected to Relieve Pressure<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Local authorities such as Rochdale<\/em> rely heavily on council tax, business rates, and government grants to fund their operations. A recent change in national funding policy is expected to alter the financial landscape for the council significantly over the coming years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to information presented in the council\u2019s recent budget documents, Rochdale<\/em> had initially anticipated a funding reduction of \u00a310 million<\/strong> under the government\u2019s fairer funding review<\/em>, which was designed to reallocate resources across the country. However, following lobbying efforts and a revision of grant allocations announced in November, funding for Rochdale<\/em> is now expected to increase by \u00a312.3<\/strong> million in 2026\/27. This recurrent boost is forecasted to grow to \u00a319.<\/strong>7 million by 2028\/29.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to this, the council is also set to receive a one-off \u201csmoothing\u201d payment <\/a>of \u00a36.5 <\/strong>million in 2026\/27, providing some temporary relief during the transitional funding period. According to council papers, council tax increases are projected to generate an additional \u00a327.8 million<\/strong> for the authority over the next three years, reinforcing the importance of annual tax hikes in maintaining local services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final details of the funding will depend on the government\u2019s provisional settlement, which is expected to be announced in the coming weeks. Until then, the 4.99% tax rise remains a key measure to ensure financial stability while keeping essential services running.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Annual increase aimed at balancing the 2026\/27 budget amid rising service costs. No cuts to services planned despite growing financial pressures across key departments<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":116832,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-taxation","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116830"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116835,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116830\/revisions\/116835"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}