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Council Tax

These are reserve powers. The decision to cap is not one that the Government take lightly. I am the Minister for Local Government, and I hear that argument from local government all the time—it is almost a canon of the case that it makes to Government. In past years, where there has been no threat of the use of council tax capping, there have been average rises of up to 12.9 per cent. It is not fair on local council tax payers if authorities set excessive increases. It is right that we have a reserve power and that we use it carefully and in a considered way, which is precisely how we have used it in the circumstances that we face this year.