Devon pensioners have led protests against council tax rises

Council tax payers were hit with an 18% increase in April, leading to a series of protests.

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott is expected to announced on Wednesday an overall 5.7% increase in spending settlements for local authorities.

Local government minister Nick Raynsford said at a conference in Exeter that it should be enough to prevent the 18% rise that hit Devon residents and warned that the government would use its capping powers if necessary.

He said: "There's no reason for authorities to repeat the unsustainable rises of last April and that's why we have made clear that we are prepared to use our capping powers if necessary.

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"I expect councils to keep their council tax levels down to the lowest feasible level."

The Treasury is looking at a 7% rise in council tax in its public expenditure plans for next year.

But protester Sylvia Hardy, from Exeter, says even that would be too much.

She said: "It would still be more than we can afford.

"Our pensions are only going up 1.7%, so tell us where we are expected to get this extra money from."

Increased burden

Devon County Council leader Brian Greenslade said: "The minister stated during the conference that it was a myth that the government had been forcing councils to spend more than could be financed by the grant increase, but that is clearly at odds with the facts.

"Devon received an overall increase in grant for all its services of �14.9m, one of the lowest in the country, actually lower than the �15.5m target set for spending just on schools.

"The only way that target could be met was by increasing the burden on council tax payers."