Council Tax

lincroft1710

NRB22 said:

lincroft1710 said:

NRB22 said:

Jeremy535897 said:

Organise a protest, or maybe move.

lincroft1710 said:

As a lone individual there is practically nothing you can do.


You could try and organise a petition, but as most councils have at least 30,000 homes, some with over 100,000, you will have an awful lot of work to do and it would probably cost you more than the CT rise, 

Both, I did actually try and create a government petition but they told me that it doesn’t meet criteria because the government has no control over local authority spending.

It’s not so much my personal situation that concerns me, obviously it is tight for everyone right now including my household, but it is people who I know of who are really struggling and having to use credit cards just to live that really worries me. Their priority is food and heating not a renovated play area.

If you try and create a petition you have to address it to the correct body, i.e. the council.


Also if your council is a non-unitary authority, then you may have to create more than one petition.


Two further points. The financial situation may not improve for some years, so any deferred expenditure may not take place for some years and when it does will probably cost more because of inflation

.

That is true we may see difficulty for some years to come, who knows?

Thank you for the information. Do councils have their own petition website or do I use something like change.org?

I don't know if councils have their own petition websites, but would doubt it


You could use Change.Org, but it may not reach enough of the right audience, if you have too many people who are not CT payers of your council sign. You must word it very carefully. I see many petitions on C.O which I do not sign because they are badly worded  and appear to have no point

nigelbb

NRB22 said:

Jeremy535897 said:

Organise a protest, or maybe move.

lincroft1710 said:

As a lone individual there is practically nothing you can do.


You could try and organise a petition, but as most councils have at least 30,000 homes, some with over 100,000, you will have an awful lot of work to do and it would probably cost you more than the CT rise, 

Both, I did actually try and create a government petition but they told me that it doesn’t meet criteria because the government has no control over local authority spending.

It’s not so much my personal situation that concerns me, obviously it is tight for everyone right now including my household, but it is people who I know of who are really struggling and having to use credit cards just to live that really worries me. Their priority is food and heating not a renovated play area.

This is ingenuous as the majority of council revenue comes from central government while council tax provides a lot less than half.

eskbanker

nigelbb said:

NRB22 said:

Jeremy535897 said:

Organise a protest, or maybe move.

lincroft1710 said:

As a lone individual there is practically nothing you can do.


You could try and organise a petition, but as most councils have at least 30,000 homes, some with over 100,000, you will have an awful lot of work to do and it would probably cost you more than the CT rise, 

Both, I did actually try and create a government petition but they told me that it doesn’t meet criteria because the government has no control over local authority spending.

It’s not so much my personal situation that concerns me, obviously it is tight for everyone right now including my household, but it is people who I know of who are really struggling and having to use credit cards just to live that really worries me. Their priority is food and heating not a renovated play area.

This is ingenuous as the majority of council revenue comes from central government while council tax provides a lot less than half.

Disingenuous surely?

OP - have you taken your concerns to your local councillor and/or attended the relevant meetings?

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/207528/Your_councils_cabinet_-_going_to_its_meetings_seeing_how_it_works.pdf

NRB22

eskbanker said:

nigelbb said:

NRB22 said:

Jeremy535897 said:

Organise a protest, or maybe move.

lincroft1710 said:

As a lone individual there is practically nothing you can do.


You could try and organise a petition, but as most councils have at least 30,000 homes, some with over 100,000, you will have an awful lot of work to do and it would probably cost you more than the CT rise, 

Both, I did actually try and create a government petition but they told me that it doesn’t meet criteria because the government has no control over local authority spending.

It’s not so much my personal situation that concerns me, obviously it is tight for everyone right now including my household, but it is people who I know of who are really struggling and having to use credit cards just to live that really worries me. Their priority is food and heating not a renovated play area.

This is ingenuous as the majority of council revenue comes from central government while council tax provides a lot less than half.

Disingenuous surely?

OP - have you taken your concerns to your local councillor and/or attended the relevant meetings?

I have spoken to the council yes but not attended meetings, I guess I could do that. 

The_Unready

".....but something I don't deem to be absolutely essential and urgent at this present time."

This is the key bit of your original query. Unfortunately, if you ask 100 people what they deem to be essential expenditure you will get 100 different answers. Councils can't work on that basis - they have to prioritise spending according to govt. guidelines or local needs, for instance.

In your particular example of cycle lanes, it's possible that the funding has come from the government-backed Active Travel fund (rather than council tax) and the benefits they bring in terms of the general health of the population and reduction in climate-affecting emissions shouldn't be under-estimated.

As others have said, all you can do is note your concerns to your local councillor, but please don't think just because you don't like a particular proposal it means that nobody else would like it either. For instance, I would absolutely prioritise the construction of safer cycling infrastructure and similar initiatives that encourage the local populations to be more active generally.

At the end of the day yours is just one voice amongst hundreds of thousands all with their own pet priorities.