THE ‘blame game’ has started as all three councils that serve Tenbury seek to justify inflation busting increases in charges.

Tenbury Town Council, Malvern Hills District Council and Worcestershire County Council will be rocketing up council tax bills that will arrive at homes in Tenbury and the Teme Valley in the spring.

In percentage terms, the biggest increase is one of nearly five per cent being imposed by the town council – although it is the smallest in actual money.

Malvern Hills District Council is pointing the finger of blame at Whitehall while Worcestershire County Council says additional funding is needed to cope with the ageing population. Both authorities are imposing an increase of almost four per cent.

However, Tenbury Town Council say that the loss of a £3,000 parish grant from Malvern Hills District Council is partly responsible for the increase.

An accounting mix-up has also played a part as the town council has failed to take account of £9,000 of VAT that it has been counting as income.

The town council will be collecting £142,400 from the people in the town. It is not subject to the cap on increases that applies to both the district and county council.

Phil Grove, who is leader of Malvern Hills District Council and sits on the authority for the town, says that the loss of money from central government has forced them to increase the precept.

In addition to a two per cent increase that is the maximum allowed before a referendum, Malvern Hills District Council is taking advantage of a rule that allows it to impose an additional £5 that it is allowed to levy upon band D properties.

“We will have a cut of £700,000 in the money that we receive from the government over the next three years,” said Phil Grove.

“These are challenging times,” he said, adding that a cull of some senior management posts is one way that savings are being achieved.

Ken Pollock, who represents Tenbury on Worcestershire County Council, has also got in early with excuses for the increase that is being blamed in part on the ageing population.

“The Chancellor has given counties the responsibility for increasing the budget for Adult Social Care by allowing a two per cent increase in addition to any other tax increase the county might be contemplating,” he said.

“This allows for local fundraising to reflect local need, rather than a blanket demand from all areas.

"In our case, the full two per cent will be raised, given the increasing percentage of our population over the age of 75, coupled with a 3.7% drop in the percentage in the under-25 age group.

“This will be added to the 1.94% increase in council tax, to cover all the other needs of the budget, in particular increasing numbers of children being taken into care and the commitment to maintain and improve the condition of our roads.

“Despite this increase, Worcestershire will remain in the bottom quartile of counties, in terms of its council tax.”