Thousands to see council tax go up in Gloucestershire

Residents across Gloucestershire face larger bills after local authorities in the county agreed to increase council tax.

People living in Stroud and Wotton-under-Edge will pay more to their parish council than their district authority from April, while residents in the Forest of Dean will also see their bills rise.

It comes as Gloucestershire County Council approved the appointment of its new leader Jo Walker, who will earn £189,000 a year, almost £17,000 more than the Prime Minister.

The council said her salary was within the range advertised for the role and benchmarked against other councils.

The average council tax bill households pay for services provided by Wotton-under-Edge will be £245.97 - up 5.06% on last year - the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Stroud Town Council said people in an average Band D household would pay 10% more than last year, at £243.82 a year.

This was more than the £243.08 that Stroud District Council would charge during the 2025/26 financial year, an increase of 2.99%.

Forest of Dean District Council said residents in Band D homes will pay £211.95, an increase of £6.15.

The council also reviewed its fees and charges which included some increases of up to 10%, including the cost of garden waste licences which are going up by £9, which councillor Julia Gooch described as "staggering."

Defending the budget, finance cabinet member Andy Moore said: "We are helping our residents as best we can.

"Mostly we are practically trying to address the climate crisis through all the means we can."

District councils provide services such as bin collection, planning, recycling, leisure and off-street parking.

Town councils said they needed to raise council tax because they were responsible for important buildings, open spaces and services but had limited opportunities to generate income.

"We've got two listed buildings, the Town Hall and The Chipping Hall," said Wotton-under-Edge town clerk Andrea Durn.

"They need extensive work to be done which is going to be done this year.

"But we've also got other buildings, a play area, a large cemetery, loads of open spaces, picnic areas and all of that costs," she added.

Stroud Town Council said their projects included improving the town's play areas.

The authority which took the lion's share of income from council tax bills was Gloucestershire County Council, which had agreed to increase its proportion of tax for a Band D property bill by 4.99% to £1,679.65.

The total bill also included Gloucestershire Constabulary's precept which is rising by 4.5%.

The council said Jo Walker had been appointed on the Local Government Association's chief executive terms and conditions.

She will earn more than eight times more than the lowest paid staff at the authority, and more than the prime minister who is entitled to a salary of £172,153.

"I am happy to propose that there was a unanimous decision to appoint Jo Walker as our next chief executive and we do need to put that to a vote as council and I look for your support in that," said Council leader Stephen Davies.

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