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Government force Council Tax rise

by Geoff Abell on 23 February, 2016

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£21 million is being taken out of the money government gives to Stockport Council.

Coupled with the autumn statement that forces councils to raise more money locally, Stockport has been forced to propose increasing Council Tax by 3.75%.  9 out of 10 councils in England and Wales  are doing something similar, and Stockport has avoided the maximum 4%.

This is after Lib Dems have managed to freeze Council Tax for 4 out of 5 years.  Even the £1 million “sweetener” from Cameron’s relief fund (that helped Surrey Council get £24 million, for example) is a drop in the ocean.

All government funding of Stockport Council is due to be stopped by 2020, so far from being a low-tax, this government is increasing the burden on all local householders, irrespective of income.

This figure needs to be confirmed by the Full Council budget meeting in March.

   4 Comments

4 Responses

  1. Annie says:

    Think we will have to move to an area with cheaper council tax,
    We are pensioners and cannot afford such a huge increase. We are about to lose our bus service (394) as well, so more council tax no transport. We are so dissapointed that Libdems are proposing this level of increase.

    • Geoff Abell says:

      Most councils are being forced to raise council tax by this much thanks to things like the Osborne Tax.
      I am also doing my best to save the 394.

  2. Cllr Syd Lloyd says:

    All Government spending support is not being stopped to Stockport by 2020. You are seemingly speaking about the Revenue Support Grant which is being replaced by the retention of local Business Rates. There are many millions of other support mechanisms that will still be made.

    • Geoff Abell says:

      Reply to Cllr Syd Lloyd, leader of the Conservative Group at Stockport Council

      “Revenue Support Grant which is being replaced by the retention of local Business Rates”. Not completely. And poorer councils will suffer, as they did originally. The government is added pressure to shift tax from progressive income tax to flat council tax.

      Lord Porter, a Conservative in favour of minimal spending and chair of the LGA, recently said, “There is a limit to how much of that stuff you can do. At some point you are going to have to start doing service changes and that is going to end up giving people a lower quality of service at the same time as their [council tax] bill is going up. There isn’t really a business model that says that’s a good idea. No one ever liked to pay more for getting less.”

      And “The move to full business rate retention is the most ambitious reform to local government finance of the last few decades. While it won’t solve the long-term funding challenges facing councils, it is absolutely critical to ensure any new system works effectively.” [My bold]

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