DURHAM'S MP says there is no need for an "excessive'' rise in the city council's share of the council tax, thanks to increased funding from the Government.

Labour's Roberta Blackman-Woods says the extra five per cent the Liberal Dem- ocrat-controlled authority will get from April is "generous'' and means any rise in bills is unjustified.

But members of the ruling group on the council, who are planning to keep this year's increase at about the rate of inflation, say the council's increased funding is not as generous as it appears.

Last year's increase in the city council's share from the tax bill to residents - bills also include county council, fire and police levies - was 2.75 per cent, or an extra £4.75 for someone in a band D property, one of the lowest rises in recent years.

The Government has warned it will take action against authorities that approve increases above five per cent.

Mrs Blackman-Woods said the increase in Government funding for the city council in 2006-7 was one of the biggest rises in the region.

She said: "The Government has awarded the city council a five per cent increase in its block grant, which is an extremely generous settlement.

"There is absolutely no reason the council tax bills of my constituents should see excessive increases. I urge the Lib Dem city bosses not to hike the council tax and blame the Government once again - it won't wash any more.''

Mrs Blackman-Woods said that, by April 2008, Government funding of local authorities would have risen by 39 per cent in real terms since 1997.

Council cabinet member Carol Woods said Chancellor Gordon Brown should be commended for some of the changes in council funding, but condemned for others.

She said he had made it easier for councils to plan ahead by making the settlement for two years, and proposing that the following settlement covers three.

But, she added, he had made it harder for councils to compare this budget to the last because of the way it had been calculated.

She said: "The settlement funds must now cover the additional burdens and responsibilities the council is to be expected to deliver, and there is no easy way of checking how this has been allocated and broken down to make sure we have enough.

"This is really important, because all of local government is facing increased responsibilities, without increased funds to cover all of these responsibilities.

"The Chancellor has not been fair in his funding of local government. He has missed opportunities to reform the way local government is funded, which would allow local people more say in how services are provided in their area.''