Kirklees Council’s Cabinet has proposed a council tax increase of 1.7 per cent, meaning that households could pay around 2.5 per cent more in total in 2013-14. Council leader Mehboob Khan said the increase was inevitable if vital services were to be protected. The full council will meet later this month to agree on the budget figures for next year, and indicative proposals for the following two years. Cabinet has proposed a 1.7 per cent increase, with the police and fire authority precepts to be added, as well as the transport levy totalling around 2.5 per cent.