The Evening Star in Ipswich has claimed a victory in its “Cap The Tax” campaign against high council tax rises, writes Dominic Ponsford.
Suffolk County Council revealed this week that it was intending to raise this year’s council tax charge by 4.5 per cent, compared with 18.5 per cent last year.
According to the Archant-owned Evening Star, local government minister Nick Raynsford threatened to cap Suffolk’s council tax rise at five per cent after seeing reports in the paper.
Editor Nigel Pickover said: “We took up the cudgels two years ago, after another big rise, then began the campaign in earnest after Suffolk’s huge 18.5 per cent rise last year.
“Cap The Tax has been a great success and we’ve adopted a very strong, critical line which led readers to raise their voices as never before.”
According to the Evening Star, a senior council official said the council tax rise climbdown was partly due to the paper. Pickover said the campaign would continue because the new rise was still well above the level of inflation.
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog