Eric Pickles condemns 'gutless' Kingston as it gets ready to raise council tax by nearly 2%

The town hall charging the highest council tax in London was attacked today for proposing raising its levy by nearly two per cent.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles condemned Kingston council and other local authorities also proposing increases of just under two per cent.

Mr Pickles imposed rules in 2011 that force town halls planning to raise their levy by more than two per cent to hold a local referendum.

But Kingston, where the Band D charge for 2012/13 is £1,659, is one of several local authorities proposing a 1.99 per cent rise in its share of council tax bills.

“Kingston should have the guts to put their hike to the public vote,” said Mr Pickles, who has urged town halls to freeze the council tax again. “Hiking council tax by 1.99 per cent and dodging a referendum is showing a complete contempt for their electorate.”

However, Kingston council said that in the three years to 2013/14 its government funding will have been reduced by more than a quarter and that it had to find £2.4 million in cuts to pay for last year’s freeze.

Derek Osbourne, the Liberal Democrat leader of the council, said: “It cost us £200,000 to run a local election, I assume a referendum would cost about the same.” He dismissed such spending as “not sustainable”.

Kingston said it raises 69 per cent of its income from residents, compared with the London average of 43 per cent, and that it is one of the lowest-spending boroughs in the capital.

Harrow council is proposing a two per cent rise, which means it also escapes having to hold a local vote.

In a separate move, MPs are calling for town halls in England to be able to impose “tourist taxes”, which could raise millions for central London authorities. The powers are included in a draft code by the Commons political and constitutional reform committee, which it said would break the “suffocating micro-management of Whitehall”.

It said the code would guarantee independence and a secure financial base and allow “a range of revenue-raising powers”, arguing that English councils lacked the “basic constitutional protections” of foreign equivalents.

Requiring the consent of local residents — although not necessarily via a referendum — it could include a tourist tax similar to that levied by many foreign cities on hotel rooms and other services.