Reeves summons regulators to No 10 in drive to cut red tape ...Middle East

Regulators have been summoned to Downing Street today for a meeting with the Chancellor as the Government continues its war on red tape.

Rachel Reeves is expected to use the meeting to announce more detail on how the Government will cut the cost of regulation by a quarter and set out plans to slim down or abolish regulators themselves.

The meeting follows the announcement last week that NHS England – dubbed the world’s largest quango – would be scrapped as part of efforts to cut costs and boost economic growth.

Follow The i paper’s live blog for updates.

Few households avoid third year of maximum council tax hikes as plans approved

A majority of households in England are facing a third year of maximum council tax hikes after all councils confirmed their plans.

Nearly nine in 10 (88 per cent) of 153 upper-tier authorities in England will impose a 4.99 per cent increase this year, the most allowed without triggering a local referendum.

If councils increasing bills by 4.5 per cent or more in April are included in the tally, the proportion increases to more than nine in 10 (94 per cent).

For just over two-thirds (68 per cent) of top-tier authorities, it will be the third year in a row that bills have gone up by at least the maximum legal amount, according to analysis by the PA news agency.

By contrast, just nine councils are boosting bills by less than 4.5 per cent this year.

Sunderland has chosen a 4.49 per cent increase, Kensington & Chelsea in London 4.00 per cent, Doncaster and Derby have both opted for 3.99 per cent, while North East Lincolnshire will increase bills by 3.98 per cent.

Council tax in Essex will rise by 3.75 per cent and in Rotherham by 3.00 per cent.

Lincolnshire will boost bills by 2.99 per cent while Wandsworth in London has approved the lowest increase in England of 2.00 per cent, representing a freeze on the main element of council tax for the third year in a row.

The council said “sound financial management is at the heart of everything we do.”

Addressing residents on its website, the council added: Wandsworth has one of the lowest levels of debt and some of the highest financial reserves in London, allowing us to freeze the main element of councils tax and invest in what matters most.”

A vast majority of residents in England continue to face maximum council tax increases, however.

The 4.99 per cent cap, which includes a 2 per cent adult social care precept, has been in place over the last three years. While 68 per cent of upper-tier councils have raised council tax by the maximum in each of the past three years, 84 per cent have done so in both 2025/26 and 2024/25, PA analysis shows.

Data for individual regions show that of the 24 top-tier councils in the North West, all are increasing to the limit in 2025/26 except Warrington, which has opted for 4.98 per cent, while Trafford has been allowed by the Government to raise bills by 7.49 per cent.

All 20 councils in the South East have approved an increase of 4.99 per cent or more this year, including an 8.99 ri per centse by Windsor & Maidenhead.

Essex is the only council out of 10 in the East of England not to hit the cap threshold, along with three of the 10 councils in the East Midlands: Nottinghamshire, Derby and Lincolnshire.

Just three of the 33 London councils have opted to increase council tax by less than 4.99 per cent, Wandsworth, Kensington & Chelsea and Barnet (4.80 per cent), while Newham has received permission for a 8.99 per cent increase.

The figures also show that maximum council tax increases are occurring across both the wealthiest and the poorest areas. All of the 20 poorest council areas, according to the latest indices of deprivation compiled in 2019, are increasing council tax to the limit.

This includes three authorities, Newham, Bradford and Birmingham, who have been allowed to increase bills above 4.99 per cent this year due to severe financial difficulties.

Similarly, only one of the 20 wealthiest council areas, Wiltshire, is not increasing council tax to the threshold.

With local government finances in crisis, the Government has provided exceptional financial assistance to 30 councils this year, including support for eight councils to balance the books in previous years.

Chancellor summons regulators to Downing Street in war on red tape

Good morning and welcome to The i paper’s live politics coverage.

Regulators have been summoned to Downing Street today for a meeting with the Chancellor as the Government continues its war on red tape.

Rachel Reeves is expected to use the meeting to announce more detail on how the Government will cut the cost of regulation by a quarter and set out plans to slim down or abolish regulators themselves.

The meeting follows the announcement last week that NHS England – dubbed the world’s largest quango – would be scrapped as part of efforts to cut costs and boost economic growth.

Reeves said: “Today we are taking further action to free businesses from the shackles of regulation. By cutting red tape and creating a more effective system, we will boost investment, create jobs and put more money into working people’s pockets.”

As well as abolishing NHS England, the Government has already announced plans to fold the Payments Systems Regulator into the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and Ms Reeves is expected to commit scrapping more regulators over the course of the Parliament.

Today, she will announce the abolition of a third quango – the Regulator for Community Interest Companies, which will be folded into Companies House – and ministers will be instructed to report back to the Chancellor by the summer with further suggestions for quangos that could be culled.

Eight regulators are expected to attend the meeting, including the FCA, the Environment Agency, Natural England and the Health and Safety Executive.

The Chancellor is also expected to use today’s meeting to unveil 60 measures Britain’s regulators have agreed to take in order to boost economic growth.

These include fast-tracking new medicines, reviewing the £100 limit on contactless payments, simplifying mortgage rules and holding two major drone-flying trials to pave the way for drone delivery services.

The measures follow a demand from the Prime Minister at the end of last year that regulators come up with “concrete proposals” to boost growth as the Government attempts to turn around Britain’s struggling economy.

Although the UK avoided a recession in the second half of 2024, the economy continues to falter and figures released last week showed a 0.1 per cent fall in GDP in January.

Other measures expected to be announced today include:

Some of the changes, particularly those relating to environmental regulation, are expected to speed up delivery of major infrastructure projects such as the long-delayed Lower Thames Tunnel and the prospective third runway at Heathrow.

Rain Newton-Smith, chief executive of the CBI, welcomed the announcements, saying: “The UK’s Gordian knot of regulations hinders investment with compliance costs that are too high, leaving us trailing the international competition.

“Today’s announcement signals a shift towards a more proportionate, outcomes-based approach that should deliver more sustainable growth and investment.”

But Conservative shadow chancellor Mel Stride said Reeves “and her job-destroying, tax-hiking budget” were “the biggest barrier to growth” in the UK.

He added: “For as long as businesses remain under the strain of Labour’s taxes and trade union red tape, they will be unable to focus on the priority of growth.”

Friends of the Earth campaigner Sienna Somers said it would be “incredibly short-sighted, and also rather desperate” to weaken environmental regulations with the UK’s environment “in a dire state”.

She said: “In the long run, this will only do more damage to our economy, not to mention our health – to call it an own goal would be a huge understatement.”

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