The government has said that next year’s council tax bill will rise but will services improve?
This Writer’s guess is: No.
Here‘s the relevant part of the BBC report. I have just a couple of comments to follow it:
Council tax bills in England are set to rise by up to 5% next April, after the government confirmed it was sticking with the current cap on increases.
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Communities Minister Matthew Pennycook told the Commons this was the “right threshold”, as he pointed to the pressures on council budgets.
It means the average household faces an above-inflation increase of more than £100 to their to their council tax bill next year.
Pennycook said the government expects an extra £1.8bn to be raised through council tax in 2025/26.
But the Conservatives claimed Labour had left a “black hole” in council finances.
Fine (stolen) words from the party that starved councils of billions of pounds during its disastrous 14 years of austerity. It is because of the Tory squeeze that many councils have threatened to declare bankruptcy, and council services across the country have become either substandard or nonexistent.
But will services improve with this demand for extra cash? I doubt it. The amount that is set to be restored is really just a tiny fraction of what is needed, and there are questions about where councils prioritise their cash and the amounts they pay their senior officers. (Why are these people being paid small fortunes for services that are not being provided?)
This will be a long-running story. The moral today is that we should not let the Tories pervert the narrative; they created this problem, and they should not be allowed to attack Labour for failing to fix it immediately.
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Council tax bills will rise but will services improve?
The government has said that next year’s council tax bill will rise but will services improve?
This Writer’s guess is: No.
Here‘s the relevant part of the BBC report. I have just a couple of comments to follow it:
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
Fine (stolen) words from the party that starved councils of billions of pounds during its disastrous 14 years of austerity. It is because of the Tory squeeze that many councils have threatened to declare bankruptcy, and council services across the country have become either substandard or nonexistent.
But will services improve with this demand for extra cash? I doubt it. The amount that is set to be restored is really just a tiny fraction of what is needed, and there are questions about where councils prioritise their cash and the amounts they pay their senior officers. (Why are these people being paid small fortunes for services that are not being provided?)
This will be a long-running story. The moral today is that we should not let the Tories pervert the narrative; they created this problem, and they should not be allowed to attack Labour for failing to fix it immediately.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Join the uPopulus group at https://upopulus.com/groups/vox-political/
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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