Telford & Wrekin Labour and Tories clash over looming council tax rises

Labour's Telford & Wrekin cabinet member for Finance Councillor Rae Evans says the Government on Friday confirmed plans for a 9 per cent Council Tax rise.

Councillor Evans said: “This Conservative government’s latest Council Tax hike is the wrong choice at the worst possible time.”

She said working people in Telford & Wrekin are facing a cost of living crisis with falling wages and rising prices because the Conservative government has "lost its grip".

“In just three years under Boris Johnson Council Tax has already risen 13 per cent, now they want to hike it 9 per cent more, yet services are under more pressure than ever because government funding has lagged behind. Once again, it’s 'pay more get less' with the Conservatives.

“It’s time to stop the squeeze on tax payers in Telford & Wrekin. This government can afford billions in crony contracts for their mates, yet every year they reach into our pockets again and again. It’s time this government got a grip, and got real about the massive pressures people are facing this winter."

Telford & Wrekin Councillor Adrian Lawrence is deputy leader of the Tory opposition on the council. He claimed that rises were not inevitably that high.

"It is up to the local authority to make plans to make savings because rises like this are not compulsory," he said. "We will definitely be challenging them."

But Councillor Lawrence said the national situation is "very difficult" because of the billions spent on supporting jobs and the economy during the pandemic.

"It is regrettable that some tax rises will have to be made. The increase in corporation tax is undesirable and it is regrettable that there might have to be council tax rises."

Councillor Lawrence had a warning too that Telford & Wrekin Council was "borrowing a lot of money" and with rising interest rates it would have to "guard against" rising repayments.