Why does council tax keep going up in Greater Manchester?

The cost of living crisis is beginning to bite.

Energy bills are set to soar, interest rates are on the rise and we’re all paying more for our food.

Our National Insurance Contributions are also going up by 10pc from April. READ MORE : Stockport council leader hints at offering £15 rebate for band A-D houses ahead of key budget meeting

So why, at this most difficult of times, are our local authorities putting council tax up?

Is it a case of wasteful councils squeezing their residents for yet more cash or are the reasons more complex?

Council tax pays for services such as maintaining the roads and collecting our bins as well as things such as parks and libraries - although the majority goes on looking after society’s most vulnerable.

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According to the Local Government Association (LGA) steadily growing demand has seen councils with responsibility for children’s and adult’s social care devoting nearly two-thirds of their total spending to these services.

By law, a ‘balanced budget’ - setting out how everything will be paid for - must be set every year.

Councils cannot borrow money to fund any of these services. They must be paid for by revenue - in the form of council tax, business rates, fees and charges and