THE total amount of council tax paid in England is set to rise by more than £1 billion next year but will still not be enough to cover government cuts and increased staff wages, according to new research revealed today.

Town halls across the country are set to take advantage of new freedoms to increase bills by up to 5.99 per cent.

But the Local Government Association (LGA) warns the hikes will fail to offset £1.4 billion in funding cuts from central government and additional costs from paying staff the national living wage.