What chance a council tax rebanding exercise across England?

Did I use the wrong term in rebanding?  If so what I should have said was "increase".

As for London etc:-

Contributed a £36.b fiscal surplus in 2016 - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_London
London GDP estimated at £503b - www.statista.com/statistics/378972/gdp-of-london/
Yorkshire and Humber GDP estimated at £146b - www.statista.com/statistics/1004135/uk-gdp-by-region/
London has ~13.4% of the UK's population, GDP / head ~£54k - www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/bulletins/regionaleconomicactivitybygrossdomesticproductuk/1998to2018
Yorkshire and Humber has ~8.3% of the UK's population, GDP / head ~£26k - as above

Still, what with "levelling up" and all, I guess Boris will sort that out.  Plus he hates Sadiq.

A few thoughts:

1.  We really are overdue a rebanding.

2.  There are too few bands.  There should be more at both the top and the bottom, so that the system is more progressive regardless of the level of local house prices.

2.  As your figures suggest, some councils are grossly inadequately funded.  The funding formula has always been a political football, and the Tories have always favoured the shire counties.  I see nothing little to suggest this has changed. *

3.  I suspect (though I'm not sure) that councils lose out when residents are on benefits (or are students) and either exempt from council tax or paying a lower rate.  AFAIK the gap is not made good by central govt.  If I'm wrong about this, hopefully someone here will know.

Good article on local government finance here: www.newlocal.org.uk/articles/council-finance-explained/

* [Edit] There is actually a marginal improvement in the funding formula for 2022/23.  "In contrast to the last decade, councils serving more deprived parts of England will see bigger increases in funding than those serving more affluent areas next year. The most deprived tenth of councils are projected to see their core spending power rise by 7.7% (4.9% in real-terms), compared to 6.6% (3.8% in real-terms) for the least deprived tenth of councils."  ifs.org.uk/publications/15889

Edit 2: Also of interest: ifs.org.uk/publications/15702

I lived an worked in a heavily Tory voting shire county, year in year out the shires got less funding than metropolitan areas be it Manchester or London.
One big issue was  Councils told to cut spending by 5% Council A manages Council B doesn't central Government gives B a rise the next year and leaves A where it was as it hit the target.
The same happens within councils I remember all departments being asked for ideas on how 2% could be taken off the budget. We as I responded within a week with a list of suggestions, HR said no cuts were possible, so what happened IT had it's budget cut by 3% HR was given a 1% increase.

That would entail a major change in how councils are funded.  There's obviously no scope to increase council tax in places like Hartlepool and Blaenau Gwent, to take keitha 's examples, but plenty of scope in the London and the South-East. 

You could increase the overall tax take, at the same time as adding more bands, in a way that did not increase (and might reduce) the burden at the bottom.  But this would see a large increase in council tax revenue where wealth is concentrated.  You'd then need to adjust the funding formula to take this into account, reducing the funding for authorities in the more affluent areas, while increasing it in the poorest.  Which would be a good thing.

It may not surprise you but I am of the opposite view!  The biggest reason for growing inequality is wealth.  I'd prefer a system that was more like a wealth tax charged on property value.  People with high property wealth but cash poor should either downsize (which too few pensioners do, and would be good for society as a whole) or borrow against the property.  The borrowing could be state organised, ie the council could be paid by some central body which would be repaid (with interest) from the sale of your property when you eventually move or die.

I'd also like to see inheritance tax reformed to be less avoidable and more comprehensive, including the abolition of the additional nil rate band for the main residence...


Edit:  Just as an aside, it's true that parts of Tower Hamlets and Newham are seriously deprived (as are parts of posh boroughs like Kensington and Chelsea, eg Grenfell Tower).  But they have wealthy bits too - especially Tower Hamlets, which has most of Docklands).

Council tax rises are not the answer. Having competent managers who can manage departmental spend and ensure efficiency is the way forward.
Continuing to tax people to cover up for incompetantance is easy but cannot continue forever.
My council tax equates to an eighth if my take home.
Potholes, rubbish and poor service does not represent value for money.