Council Agree 3% Tax Cut for Fourth Year in Row
But LibDems call it "nothing short of pre-election bribe "
Plans to cut council tax in Hammersmith & Fulham for the fourth year in a row have been approved at a Budget Council meeting.
Councillors voted Wednesday, February 24 on a 3% tax cut as part of the council’s budget proposals for 2010/11.
The means in the year beginning in April, the council’s share of a Band D council tax bill will be £811.78 – which is £25 cheaper than last year and £105 less than 2006.
Meanwhile, the Mayor of London is freezing his share of the bill at £309.82, making the overall total £1,121.60p for a Band D property.
The total for other bands will be: Band A - £747.74; Band B - £872.35; Band C - £996.98; Band E - £1,370.85; Band F - £1,620.09; Band G - £1,869.34; Band H - £2,243.20.
The savings for residents range from £16.74 for those living in Band A properties to £50.22 for those who live in the highest Band H.
This new tax cut however, has already been heavily criticised by the Liberal Democrats, who say it has been funded by raiding reserves to the tune of £2.8 million. " The stark truth is that the Council is pursuing a reckless policy of Council tax reduction financed out of reserves and through sale of Council assets," says Merlene Emerson, Parliamentary Spokeswoman for Hammersmith.
" Public services on the other hand are cut despite greater demands on its services and euphemisms such as 'efficiency savings' and 'self-directed support' are used as a way of disguising real cuts in Adult Social Services and other services."
As evidence she cites:
Cuts in services totalling £13 million. These include £2.165 million in Children’s Services and £3.6 million in Community Services such as Adult Social Care.
Budget risks of £10 million (going up to £25 million in 2013), recognising that some of the so-called efficiency savings may not be achieved. There is also the risk that the grant from central Government is likely to be reduced in the coming three years.
A large scale capital disposal programme, in excess of £10 million over the next 2 years of Council assets - though the report is short on detail as to which specific properties are at stake.
25% of future receipts from decent neighbourhoods programme (including planned sales of £7.435 million of properties such as hostels, street properties and other regeneration sites) is intended to be siphoned off for general capital investment or to subsidise the revenue budget rather than reinvested.
A pension black hole of over £300 million which has not been addressed by the budget at all.
The LibDems also point out that no cuts have been promised in 2011 or 2012.
Merlene adds: " In the current economic downturn, what we need from our local Council is vision and leadership, safeguarding local jobs rather than creating no less than 600 unemployed to join the dole queues. We badly need investment in services for young people and greater security and care for the elderly and vulnerable.
" Instead we have a Council intent on the banner headline of 3% Council tax cuts which is nothing short of a pre-election bribe. "
February 22, 2010
