Nearly all councils are planning to raise council tax by the maximum amount permitted without holding a referendum, new analysis shows, amid a crisis in local authority funding.

All councils minus eight of the 136 top-tier councils to have declared their proposals plan to hike council tax by at least 4.99 per cent in April, according to analysis by the County Councils Network (CCN).

And in some areas the jump will be even higher; four councils recently forced to declare effective bankruptcy – Birmingham, Woking, Slough and Thurrock – have been given special dispensation by the government to raise council tax by up to 10 per cent.

Thurrock has opted to raise its tax by 7.99 per cent, while Birmingham, Woking and Slough are among 17 councils yet to declare their tax plans for the financial year ahead.

The 95 per cent of councils found to be seeking to impose the maximum rise represents a significant rise from the 75 per cent of councils found to be planning to do so in research carried out at the same time last year, the CCN said.

The proposed increases overall mean the average Band D household will face an average increase of £103 over the next year.

The decisions to raise council tax bills are driven by the scale of the financial pressures authorities remain under, despite the government’s recent emergency injection of £600m, the CCN said.

In the last six years, eight local authorities have issued a section 114 notice, which is in effect a declaration of bankruptcy. Prior to 2018, the last time a council had been forced to do so was in 2000.

‍

‍