05/01/05 - Labour All Talk On Council Tax

LABOUR: ALL TALK ON COUNCIL TAX

Labours Local Government Minister, Nick Raynsford, pledged that council tax increases this year would be less than 5 per cent (2 December 2004), yet councils have already made plans to increase council tax which will mean that the bill for an average house will be over 1,000.

Why Labour are all talk:

1. Tony Blair said he had no plans to increase tax at all, but there have been 66 tax rises under Labour, including council tax, which has gone up by 70 per cent in England since 1997. The average council tax bill for a Band D house in England in 2004-05 is 1,167.
2. Every year, Labour promise a generous funding settlement for local councils. All talk. Every year, on average, council tax has soared by three times the rate of inflation.
3. The small print of the Treasurys Pre-Budget Report, forecasts that council tax receipts in Britain are projected to rise by 8.1 per cent over four times the rate of inflation.
4. An 8 per cent rise in council tax bills would mean an increase of 95 on a Band D bill in England in 2005-6. A similar increase would take the typical bill to 1,138 in Scotland (+85) and to 959 in Wales (+72).
5. For the first time, the council tax bill for an average property will be over 1,000 (Daily Mail, 5 January 2005).
6. Band D bills will rise by 25 per cent in Cardiff and 10 per cent in York (Daily Mail, 5 January 2005). In Oldham, Band D bills will be 1,342 from April.
7. Councils costs due to new regulations, burdens and laws imposed from Whitehall are rising faster than central funding. The result is that council taxpayers end up footing the bill. Using council tax to raise more money is the most dishonest tax hike of them all engineered by Whitehall, but with local councillors taking the blame when bills hit the doormat.

Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrats plans for a new local income tax would cost a typical working family 630 a year more.

Their flagship policy has even come under fire from within their own party. The October edition of the Liberal Future newsletter slams the policy, asserting: taxing income from work tends to discourage work. For some, taxing income from work can make unemployment and collecting the dole more attractive than low paid work.

What will Conservatives do?

Conservative controlled councils already have lower council tax bills than Labour and Liberal Democrat controlled councils. A Conservative Government will:

1. Block plans for higher council tax bands in England and prevent next years council tax revaluation being fiddled to increase council tax further by stealth.
2. Cut the unfunded red tape, regulations and directives on local authorities that have caused council tax to soar.
3. Reverse Labours fiddled changes to local government funding in England.

Councillor Justin Tomlinson, North Swindon Conservative Parliamentary Candidate, "As a local resident myself I have seen first hand the rocketing Council Tax bills in Swindon. In the last 3 years alone, Council Tax has rocketed by 42% under Labour. This is is unacceptable, it is only the Conservatives who will drive down Council Tax."