Osborne freezes council tax for second year

Chancellor George Osborne will extend the council tax freeze for another year in a bid to help ease the financial burden on households, it will be announced today.

Osborne will reveal the £800m council tax subsidy later during the Conservative party conference in Manchester, according to the Financial Times.

The freeze for a second year will save a typical family £72 a year. The attempt to allign the Conservatives with struggling middle Britain will be funded by recycling supposed efficiency savings across Whitehall.

Osborne is also expected to try to appease critics at the Tory conference by sketching out more plans to bolster growth, although they will not satisfy those seeking a more ambitious plan, including tax cuts.

The chancellor's aides insist the full growth review will not be announced until November and that the main thrust of his speech will be a staunch defence of his plan to eliminate the structural deficit within five years.