Voters to veto big council tax rises - DM

drc

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1298814/Voters-veto-big-council-tax-rises.html

Not really surprising considering a quarter of council tax just goes towards paying the pension of council workers and services have actually got worse, not better, even though council tax has doubled over the last 10 years :mad:.

Voters to veto big council tax rises

By James Chapman
Last updated at 10:27 AM on 30th July 2010

Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles will set a threshold for council tax rises every year


Voters are to get the right to veto inflation-busting council tax rises.

Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles will today set out plans to make councils get approval from the public every time they want to impose 'excessive' increases in bills.

Mr Pickles will set a threshold for council tax rises every year - expected to be tied to inflation - above which councils will need to hold a referendum.

Since voters are almost certain to reject a move to hit them in the pocket, the move effectively spells the end of years of above-inflation increases.

It is likely to plunge the Government into a furious row with local authorities, who are facing big budget squeezes as Britain tries to rein in the massive deficit left behind by Labour and had hoped council tax rises might plug some of the gap.

Council tax bills across England have doubled since 1997, pushing the average bill to £120 a month for a Band D home. Their annual bill hit £1,439 in 2010/11, up from £688 when Labour came to power.

To try to limit further increases, the Labour government introduced a system of capping by Whitehall, where rises above a certain level each year were blocked centrally.

Instead, Mr Pickles wants to give local people the final say in a vote on excessive increases.

Under the new proposals laid out today by the Communities and Local Government Department, any local authority that sets its council tax increase above a fixed ceiling, approved by Parliament each year, would trigger an automatic referendum of all registered electors in their area.

As a further disincentive against proposing large rises, councils themselves will have to foot the bill for running a referendum, though the vote could be held in tandem with other local elections.

Residents will be asked to choose between the proposed rise and a 'shadow budget', which the council must also prepare within the defined limit. A 'no' vote would leave councils having to refund taxpayers or give a credit at the end of the tax year.

The previous Government stepped to take capping action against 36 authorities which set excessive rises. Some of the highest rises were South Cambridgeshire who tried to push through a 100 per cent increase in 2005/6 and Lincolnshire Police Authority, which wanted a 79 per cent increase in 2008/09.

Mr Pickles says he is determined to reverse the presumption that Whitehall knows best by making local councils directly accountable to the local taxpayer.

The referendum plan, he says, will mean councils have to defend their budget decisions and bill increases to the local electorate instead of Whitehall.

'Hard-working families and pensioners were left feeling powerless and frustrated under the previous government, as council tax bills doubled while their frontline services like weekly bin collections were halved,' Mr Pickles said.

'If councils want to increase council tax further, they will have to prove the case to the electorate. Let the people decide.

'The new Government is committed to tackling the fiddled funding which drove up council tax, but such reforms must go hand in hand with measures to protect the interests of local taxpayers.

'This is a radical extension of direct democracy, as part of a wider programme of decentralising power to local communities. Power should not just be given to councils, but be devolved further down to neighbourhoods and citizens.'

Primary legislation is required to change the law. The right of veto is expected to be in place for council tax bills issued in March 2012.

Next year, many council tax payers in England could benefit from a one-year freeze worth an average of about £35 for every household.

But the freeze - expected to cost around £500million - will be delivered only in areas where councils rein in their spending plans.

Chancellor George Osborne said in last month's emergency Budget that he wanted to incentivise local authorities to keep spending under control.

The Government says the scheme would work by giving councils grants if they cut or froze their own costs.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1298814/Voters-veto-big-council-tax-rises.html#ixzz0v9sH8UP8

tincans

A laughable gimmick.

ILW

tincans wrote: »

A laughable gimmick.

Why, what is wrong with the people who have to pay having a say in how much is spent?

daveyjp

"Not really surprising considering a quarter of council tax just goes towards paying the pension of council workers "

It doesn't.

drc

daveyjp wrote: »

"Not really surprising considering a quarter of council tax just goes towards paying the pension of council workers "

It doesn't.

Um, yes it does;

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1296373/Town-halls--5bn-pensions-thats-quarter-council-tax.html

Andy_L

drc wrote: »

Um, yes it does;

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1296373/Town-halls--5bn-pensions-thats-quarter-council-tax.html

So only council tax funds Local Gov pensions? business rates etc aren't used as well?

robin_banks

Maybe the Tory leader of Barnet council who awarded herself a 55% increase in allowances might wish to comment on such matters.

Don't see a DM linky on such facts.

daveyjp

drc - you really should wean yourself off the Mail - it's bad for your blood pressure.

Council Tax is a small proportion of Council Income - if you take a small proportion and apply to a large expenditure you get a DM figure which is good for headlines but not much else.


"Three Rivers District Council does not administer a pension scheme but its employees are members of the Hertfordshire Local Government Pension Scheme administered by Hertfordshire County Council and regulated by statute. In addition to the contributions made by its employees, the Council is obliged to make an employer's contribution to the Scheme.

The Council estimates that this will be in the region of £1.4m in the 2009/10 financial year. This represents 2.8% of its gross expenditure.

Council tax is derived by deducting from the council's gross expenditure the fees and charges it generates from services (e.g. leisure) and the amount of government grant, before dividing this net expenditure by the council taxbase. It is misleading, therefore, to relate the employer's pension contribution directly to the council tax since it is funded from these other sources as well. "

"In 2008/09, the last full financial year, the Council made
employer’s contributions of £15.630m to the Falkirk Council Pension
Fund. In that period some 18.7% of council spending was financed by
council tax, the remainder being government grant. If this % is
applied to the total employer’s contribution an amount of £2.922m
results. This is equivalent to around 4.9% of council tax income."

tincans

drc wrote: »

Um, yes it does;

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1296373/Town-halls--5bn-pensions-thats-quarter-council-tax.html

If its in the Daily Mail it must be true.

tincans

ILW wrote: »

Why, what is wrong with the people who have to pay having a say in how much is spent?

I thought we already had something called local elections were you vote for a party or candidate.

Take a look at the state of California's finances to see how sucessful having a referendum on almost everything is.

marklv

Why do we need local government at all? It might be better - and cheaper - if the PM appointed governors for every county in the UK, with full powers.