Letter: Mantra of austerity is wearing very thin
So now we know; the autocrats at Shirehall have refused to pass on the council tax support grant, thereby forcing town and parish councils to either increase their precepts or cut hitherto essential services, or both – and furthermore without any meaningful consultation regarding the potential consequences.
No amount of protestation or imploring could penetrate the arrogant disdain that has taken root since the advent of the unitary council, and we are now left to the mercy (or lack of it) of jumped-up, self-important wannabe politicians with an over-inflated opinion of themselves. They seem to forget that they are merely the paid servants of the taxpaying residents of Shropshire, where democracy seemingly died with the axing of district councils. "You ain't seen nothing yet," says Keith Barrow, who insists that there is a need to cut a further £80 million of expenditure.
Already so much of the accepted statutory provision, including social care for the elderly and youth of the county, has been cut to the bone, so what's next? I begin to wonder what our council tax is spent on, apart from highly-paid consultants and councillors' allowances.
The mantra of "austerity" is wearing very thin, and with the promise of more of the same we are fast coming to resemble a Third World society in our attitude to social provision. Enough already!
Tony Willetts, Craven Arms
