Council tax rise bid low to ease pain of recession
Friday 13th February 2009, 11:49AM GMT.
Telford & Wrekin Council is planning one of its lowest ever increases in council tax in a bid to help lessen the effects of the recession on residents.
Its Conservative leadership is proposing a rise of 2.5 per cent – well below inflation and a hike of around 40p a week for the average household.
But this will also mean an extra £1 million being slashed from council spending by slimming down its management structure.
Millions of pounds will still be pumped into reviving the borough towns, redeveloping schools, helping people obtain or retain homes, and repair roads and paths.
Two trial schemes will also come into force to help residents beat the credit crunch. The Tories want to extend the concessionary travel scheme, making public transport in the borough free for everyone over 60 from 9am.
And they want to introduce a range of anti-credit crunch measures including a temporary advice centre at Telford Town Centre and encouraging a “buy local” approach where possible when engaging contractors.
Council leader Andrew Eade said: “I want people to know this council is listening to them and understands the challenges facing this borough. That’s why we are proposing a budget with such a low increase to help minimise the hardship that so many people are feeling.
“Like our residents, this council too must make less go further and find even more ways to be leaner and more efficient. But at the same time, it is crucial we continue to invest in services that will offer direct and practical support for our residents while keeping any increase in bills to an absolute minimum.”
The budget package will go to full council on March 5.
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What is the extra cost of the proposed expansion of the concessionary travel arrangement for everyone of 60 from 9am onwards, if they left that alone then surely that might get away with no increase in the council tax.
And why should those still working past 60 receive free travel ?
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Many firms are making people redundant, shops are heavily discounting stock, firms are closing down and the high street is becoming empty, people are cutting back so they can afford the basics – we all face the worse recession for years.
This is all going on in the real world.
In La La land where our beloved concil and our our dear elected members live, milk and hoey flow and they only want an INCREASE of 2.5%
If they hadn’t wasted so much money in the past on pointless schemes they would be able to do what the rest of the world is doing and REDUCE the price they charge.
Wake up Mr Eade and your fellow members – the only rise this year MUST BE NEGATIVE!! just like the rest of the world.
You have millions of pounds of cost saving opportunities available to help you achieve this – abolish transforming Telford, turn off all the pointless traffic lights, stop gritting the roads (oh, youve already done that!)
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At the end of December, before the recent round of job cuts, further bad fiscal news and a base rate cut, the CPI stood at 3.1% and the RPI stood at 0.9%. So how exactly is this 2.5% increase in council tax “well below inflation”? Especially when, in all likelihood, we’ll see deflationary figures for February and beyond.
Is TWC really that unable to get value out of the “services” that they purchase and provide? Surely their buying officers know that huge savings can be made on purchases. If not, leave a reply to this message asking me to help and I’ll be along on Monday to point you in the right direction.
One immediate saving that could be made might be to stop paying contractors when they don’t carry out the work that they invoice you for. On three occasions, I reported three lights out of order in my street and on three occasions was told by TWC that the contractor had advised them that the problem had been repaired. Needless to say, we’re still in the dark over here, but some contractor’s probably settling down further into his comfy chair, courtesy of my tax money.
The fundamental problem appears to be that councils are so used to enjoying the trough that they lose a clear idea of what things actually cost and so allow the providers to get away with inflated invoices and, as with my lights, inflated invoices for nothing at all.
And what do you imagine that “slimming down the management structure” will involve? I’d like to feel that it doesn’t mean giving them a gold-plated send off to another tax-payer funded institution or “early retirement” with immediate re-employment as an expensive consultant at the same desk the week after.
These glib statements from TWC are becoming too common-place nowadays. Time to follow Shropshire Council’s brave act of solidarity and freeze rates, not increase them.
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If Mt Eade and his colleagues had nor decided to hike up Councillors allowances by £132k next year, or didnot spend £100k extra on advertising or used the offices they own for the Credit Crunch Shops, we could’ve had a freeze in Council Tax.
But Mt eade thinks its more important for Councillors to line their own pockets whilst everyone faces the worst struggle ever.
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….and not lets forget the police and fire services will want their cut on top
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not good enough it should go down not up
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No doubt the 2.5% rise is to employ more officers to prevent single person’s using the town park.
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hardly helping us to put tax up in a recession at all is it?
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