Council tax in Rochdale set to increase by 4.99pc despite leader's freeze plans

Council Tax bills for 2021/22 are being issued this month and the amount of you will be paying from April depends on the size and value of your property, plus the number of people who live there.Council Tax valuation bands are used to determine how much you pay - your home will be given a valuation band between A and H, based on your property's value at April 1,1991.Newer properties are given a band when they are built and are based on an estimate of their value had they existed on April 1,

click on this link, enter your email address, and select 'MyWigan News'.Speaking after the budget meeting, council leader David Molyneux explained why the ruling Labour group decided it was time to end the council tax freeze.He said: "We've got to take the decision very carefully and very fairly."That's why we kept our council tax the lowest in Greater Manchester."It's important to us that we try to keep that cost at a minimum."We've got to deliver a balanced budget.

Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) is encouraging people to check if they could reduce their Council Tax bill this month after new figures revealed its network delivered £2.3 million in savings over the last 12 months.Research by Citizens Advice Scotland shows that people who used its services saved an average of £393 on their Council Tax bill.Analysis released earlier this year revealed that 2,257 people approached the Citizens Advice network for help with a complex debt issue involving Council

Yaw Tog, the breakout star of Ghana's rising Asakaa drill scene, has joined forces with Stormzy and Kewsi Arthur for a remix of his song "Sore." Check out the video for the "Sore" remix above. "Sore" was first released in 2020 and became the first Ghanaian drill video to pass the 1M view count.

Stormzy and Kwesi Arthur have teamed up to collaborate with the rising Ghanaian rapper Yaw Tog for a new remix of his break-out song ‘Sore’ – you can hear the track below.Drill rapper Yaw Tog dropped the original version of ‘Sore’ back in September, which featured O’Kenneth, City Boy, Reggie and Jay Bhad.Yaw Tog’s new collaboration with fellow Ghanaian musician Arthur and Stormzy came after the London MC took a trip to Ghana at the turn of the year, where he performed his ‘Sore’ verse at UPP

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direct to your inboxTaxpayers in Manchester will see their council tax bills rise from April after the council set its yearly budget - which includes cuts of £41m.Leaders say the 4.99 per cent increase will raise £8.5m to protect vital frontline services such as social care after a year in which finances have been decimated by the Covid-19 pandemic.It will mean the annual council tax bill for Band D properties will rise by £71.13 to £1,496.59 - before taking into account mayoral and police

Renfrewshire council tax charges 2021/22Band A - £876.95Band B - £1,023.10Band C - £1,169.26Band D - £1,315.42Band E - £1,728.32Band F - £2,137.56Band G - £2,576.03Band H - £3,222.78Main spending commitments in budget

direct to your inboxEvery local authority in Greater Manchester is preparing to raise council tax bills from April to keep services running despite the financial impact of Covid-19.The budgets of town halls across the city-region have been hit hard by the pandemic, with some councils having to plug huge gaps in their finances.While the government has paid out millions of pounds in emergency funding to councils, their leaders say the money does not go far enough.The government has also allowed

direct to your inboxA Rochdale council boss has publicly apologised to two of the authority’s senior officers for his behaviour at a seminar.Councillor Neil Emmott, portfolio holder for ‘quality of place’, told Mark Widdup and Donna Bowler he was ‘truly sorry’ for his actions.He is understood to have directed an inappropriate verbal outburst at the pair during the event, which happened over 18 months ago, at a community health centre in the town.Mr Widdup is the council’s director of

click on this link, enter your email address, and select 'MyWigan News'.He also announced a pledge to plant a tree for every citizen of the borough who has died due to Covid, adding to the 70,000 which were planted this year.Councillors were told £600,000 would be put towards the Our Town fund to 'revitalise' town centres across the borough, with further funding possible.But opposition councillors called for more money to be spent on smaller towns complaining the bulk of the regeneration budget

direct to your inboxCouncil tax in Rochdale will go up by the maximum 4.99pc after proposals for a one-year freeze were rejected in a town hall vote.The rise was approved at the authority’s annual budget setting meeting on Wednesday night, with the backing of the controlling Labour group.The Conservatives put forward plans to freeze the general element of council tax - 1.99pc of the increase - by using monies that otherwise be transferred to reserves.The 3pc ring-fenced for adult social care was

Ellise Shafer administratorThe Texas-born movie theater chain Alamo Drafthouse has announced that it will keep its COVID-19 safety measures in place, despite Texas Gov.

North Ayrshire from April for the year ahead according to budget proposals.Councillors will vote on the £365 million budget on Thursday, which recommends £490,000 proposed new cuts to balance the books.A £500,000 new pot of money has been proposed to make the school day cheaper for families struggling financially.

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direct to your inboxStockport residents will face a 3.5pc hike in council tax but also enjoy free Saturday parking after the council passed its budget for the next 12 months.The town hall’s financial plan for the 2021/22 municipal year was approved by a majority vote at a remote meeting on Thursday night.The Labour administration put forward what it described as its ‘Covid recovery budget’, including £10m for affordable housing, £2m to help businesses get back on their feet and one-off monies

Rebecca Davis editorMore than 35,300 suspected links to pirated versions of Chinese New Year’s films and major holiday TV programs are available online, despite government directives to crack down on piracy, new data from China shows. Rampant piracy did not stop the seven new year’s blockbusters released on Feb.

Jennifer Aniston fansare noticing a habit of her character, Rachel Green, on, and it's gone viral on TikTok.The TikTok compilation features Aniston, as Rachel, clearing her throat in almost every scene she appears in on the beloved sitcom.«Jennifer Aniston has this sort of vocal tic that she does at the beginning of every single sentence that she starts on any [episode] that she's in,» the individual shared in the viral post.

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