WARRINGTON Borough Council has been given permission by the Government to increase Council Tax by up to 7.5 per cent as part of “fairer funding announcements, one of just seven councils across the country being given additional flexibility due to financial challenges.
For Warrington, this confirms that the council will be permitted to increase council tax by 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝟕.𝟓%.
Indpendent Cllr Stuart Mann said: “It’s important to note that this is less than the level of increase that had been requested, and it represents a cap, not a decision.
“The council does not have to use the full amount.
Based on my own calculations (not council figures), a 7.5% increase to the borough council element only would mean:
A Band D household, excluding any parish charge, paying around £𝟐,𝟑𝟗𝟎 𝐚 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 roughly £13–14 more per month than this year.
“Nothing has been finalised, and parish precepts vary by area.”
“It’s REALLY important to remember this increase will be combined with around £40m of service cuts.”
“𝐒𝐨 £𝟏𝟔𝟑.𝟐𝟎 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭, 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬.”
Cllr. Mann added: “The government announcement also refers to additional support for councils facing the most acute financial pressures.”
He says he will announce more details on what this could mean for Warrington after having time to “digest the detail.”
The council has requested support to close its four-year, £130 million funding gap, which it says will require “a number of extremely difficult decisions.
“The published proposed savings list is now subject to discussion by the Council’s Scrutiny Committee and Cabinet, with Full Council – a meeting of all Warrington councillors – ultimately being asked to approve the Council’s budget proposals on 2 March.”
Following the announcement the boroough council issued the following statement:
“The Government has confirmed that the Council will be able to increase its Council Tax rate by an additional 2.5% above the normal 5% limit, from April 2026.
“This would mean that residents could pay an overall Council Tax increase of up to7.5%. For a typical Warrington Band D household this would represent an increase of £2.69 per week.
In December 2025, the Council submitted its application for exceptional financial support (EFS), to enable it to become financially sustainable into the future. Part of the EFS application included a request to government to increase Council Tax.
“The overall 7.5% Council Tax increase has not yet been agreed. It will now go to the Council’s Scrutiny Committee and Cabinet for discussion, before all councillors are then asked to approve the budget at the Full Council meeting on Monday 2 March. If approved, the increase would provide an additional £3.4 million per year for the Council.”
Cabinet member for finance, Cllr Denis Matthews, said: “Knowing how much the Council might increase its Council Tax by, gives important clarity to councillors ahead of these important meetings.
“We know that people are concerned about the impact of a potential additional Council Tax increase, and in that respect we have a lot to do, to restore trust with our communities.
“With a 7.5% increase, we would move from having a below average Council Tax rate compared to our statistical counterparts, to a more average rate.
“While we await the outcome of our wider EFS application, which we expect clarity on by the end of February, knowing the Council has the ability to increase Council Tax by up to 7.5%, gives councillors confirmation of critical information ahead of the decision-making budget meeting on 2 March.”
1 Comment
Whatever the increase and fire sale lessons must be learned and going forward best practice put in place from other councils wherever that is found. I’m sure the guros on board can deploy their skills and contacts to do this and put the much needed structures in place changing the structure of the organisation. Getting people in places who believe in the Town and have it’s interests at heart and perhaps even live in the borough would be a start. Consult with the charities and business communities and investing in communities future. I remember seeythe local plan under the Stands of the Wolves Stadium and saying to the director these plans for my area are a straight copy of Satnams.Where us the thought going into what we the community needs and is asking for – not there or anywhere and as for Nature Conservation Andy Farrell another director may have been a town planner but certainly not a nature conservationist, he took apart the concept of nature recovery and got rid of a brilliant environmental officer’s role and wncf secretary and then removed the wncf from it’s web site when I had worked with the IT crowd in 2016, I knew then what we were up against. Although we have many good officers their hearts to do the job was taken away overnight. As well as our great partners whose funding was so important and in relative terms so little. End of sermon- I’m sure that there are other examples in other area and services.