Britain's Prime Minister Andy Burnham, center, holds a National Economic Council meeting at No 10 North at Heron House in Manchester, England. Friday July 24, 2026. Andy Burnham is not actively considering replacing council tax and stamp duty, according to Downing Street. The i paper reported on Sunday that Treasury officials have been examining options for reforming council tax, replacing it with a 0.48% annual property tax. The prime minister also told the BBC that his government will face “big decisions” about the levy. But a spokesperson rejected the idea on Monday, telling reporters: “Suggestions that scrapping council tax or stamp duty are under ‘active consideration’ by the prime minister are not true. “As has always been the case, decisions on tax are a matter for the chancellor to set out at fiscal events.” Asked if Treasury officials are also looking at the policy plans, the spokesperson said all “decisions on tax are matters for the chancellor to set out at the budget”. “It wouldn’t be right to comment outside of those circumstances,” he added. When asked about the prime minister’s suggestion that council tax needs reform, the spokesperson said: “What has been clear is we need to honour the manifesto on which Labour was elected.” Burnham also told the BBC at the weekend that former chancellor Rachel Reeves was “right to start to reform council tax to create some fairness there in relation to people in homes that are of much greater value, who haven’t seen their council tax go up over the years because of the failure to revalue the banding”. However, he has insisted he will stick to Labour’s 2024 manifesto. Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster. Related... Labour Now On Course To Win Next General Election Thanks To Burnham