Crawley Borough Council to increase its share of council tax bills

The increase was supported during a meeting of the cabinet on Wednesday (February 2) and is scheduled to be approved later this month.

The rise will see Band D bills rise from £213.84 to £218.79, with demands from Sussex Police and the county council still to be added.

Earlier this week, the county council’s cabinet supported a Band D rise of £45 from £1,510.56 to £1,555.74.

And Sussex Police is expected to add another £10 to its portion of the bill.

This means the complete council tax bill for a Band D property is likely to rise by more than £60 in April.

Peter Lamb, leader of the council, told the meeting that the increase was ‘substantially below the current rate of inflation’.

He added that, when looked at in line with inflation over the years, the borough council’s bill was ‘a fair chunk below’ what it was when council tax was introduced in 1993.

But, with residents facing National Insurance rise and huge hikes in energy bills, his words are unlikely to leave anyone cheering.

Final approval of the increase is set to be given during a meeting of the full council on February 23.