Council tax and service charges are set to rise across England due to serious financial woes suffered by many local councils, according to a new report.

The 2018 State of Local Government Finance research says 95% of authorities will increase council tax, while 93 per cent plan to increase service fees for parking, burials and planning, among other services.

80 per cent of councils are struggling to balance their books.

In Northamptonshire County Council, all additional spending has been halted. The authority's financial situation was described as "grave".

In the report, 93 per cent of respondents said that tax and other charges would need to go up if authorities were to stay afloat.

The way central government funding is provided has come in for criticism, with some authorities saying a "fundamental redesign of the financial system" was required.

Children's services are especially under pressure, with 32 per cent of councils indicating that funding was insufficient. Adult social care funding was a serious issue among 28 per cent of councils, while finding cash for housing and homelessness was a problem for 19 per cent of councils.

In terms of long-term pressures, a third of councils - or 119 authorities - said social care was the biggest worry.

In addition, councils are concerned about their incomes post 2020, since business rates have yet to be settled on.

Emergency controls were imposed on Northamptonshire County Council on Friday, triggered by the state of the authority's finances. The move comes in the form of a section 114 notice.

The Conservative-run council is the first authority in 20 years to issue such a notice. An overspend of £21m was predicted for the current financial year.

Surrey County Council (SCC), home to the largest number of high net worth individuals in the UK, also has a funding gap - of £105m. The authority threatened to raise council tax by 15%, but this idea has since been taken off the table.

There have been accusations that a special "sweetheart deal" has been offered to SCC by the government. There have been suggestions that any extra funding for SSC would mean a loss of funding for other authorities.

In larger authorities, if a council raises tax by 5 per cent or more, a public vote on the hike is triggered. The figure is 3 per cent for smaller councils.