Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 8 September 2026, to Question 20159, on Council Tax, whether her department has made an estimate of the effective financial loss in funding for each of the six councils that have below-average levels of current council tax, specifically as a consequence of the national notional council tax level being applied in the Local Government Finance Settlement.

No such estimate has been made. The national notional council tax level is used to calculate resource adjustment, a measure which accounts for the different council tax raising ability between local authorities based on the number and band of properties. To fully account for ability to raise council tax, following consultation, the government set the notional level at the average level of council tax in England.

The council tax level assumed for each of the six councils in calculating their Core Spending Power for 2026-27 to 2028-29 is based on the actual Band D level for each council in 2025-26. The actual level of council tax remains a local decision for individual councils, taking into consideration a range of local factors including the impact on taxpayers.