AN East Lancashire MP has expressed his concern over potential rises in council tax after the Chancellor's recent pledge to increase the central grant to local authorities to almost £26billion in 2010/11.
Nigel Evans, Conservative MP for Ribble Valley, said: "The worry is that this is only a one percent increase in real terms and in order to avoid a hole in the funding of services, one of the only options will be to increase council tax.
"Council tax bills have nearly doubled in the Ribble Valley and across the country since 1997 and these above inflation increases have hit those on low and fixed incomes, such as pensioners, the hardest.
"I would urge Alistair Darling to look at council tax again. There is no justification for it rising in this manner - dressed up by Hazel Blears as a positive settlement for Local Authorities'.
"Positive it is not and the Government needs to move quickly in order to rectify this escalating problem."
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