Council tax rise despite manifesto pledges
But the fact that Stratford District Council is planning an increase of any kind has immediately sparked a political row because the ruling Conservatives said in their local election manifesto last year that their “aim” was to keep the council tax at its current level over the next four years.
In fact, the Tories are proposing an increase of 3.9 per cent in 2016-17, lifting the annual D Band payment by £4.99 from £128.05 to £133.04.
A likely 4 per cent increase by the county council of £48.05 from £1,201.14 to £1,249.19, and 2 per cent by the police of £3.76 from £188.23 to £191.99, would put the total yearly outlay up from £1,517.42 to £1,574.22, a rise of £56.80 – excluding town and parish precepts.
And while a row has erupted over the proposed district council increase, senior officials at the county council – run by a minority Conservative administration – are reported to be “in shock” over an additional financial squeeze being put on the authority by the government.
This week the county council leader, Cllr Izzi Seccombe (Cons, Stour and the Vale), told the Herald: “The cutbacks are bigger and deeper than we had expected. We’re having to find another £10 million in savings on what we had been expecting to have to find next year in the 2016-17 budget.
“For us to find this level of savings in a short period of time is not possible. We’ll have to find the money from our reserves over the coming year.” The council currently has around £18 million in general reserves and about £18 million in departmental reserves.
Cllr Seccombe said the county council had made £98 million in savings since 2010, resulting in the loss of 1,700 jobs (or job equivalents) over that period. It now had an annual – much reduced – annual expenditure of £350 million, excluding the education budget.
Under government policy the county will be allowed to charge 2 per cent in council tax for adult social care and up to another 2 per cent to cover other services. “We have got some real challenges ahead,” said Cllr Seccombe.
Meanwhile the argument over the Conservatives’ apparent U-turn on the subject of the council tax in the Stratford district gathered pace.
Cllr Peter Moorse (Lib Dem, Hathaway), the leader of the main opposition on the district council, pointed out that proposals to increase the council tax by 3.9 per cent were contained in papers being presented to the ruling cabinet on Monday, 18th January.
He said the increase for 2016-17 was proposed despite record low levels of inflation and would be followed by 2 per cent increases in ensuing years.
“It is breathtaking cynicism by the local Tories,” said Cllr Moorse. “Just before the election they froze the council tax and promised no increase for four years in their manifesto.
“Now we learn they plan to increase council tax by 3.9 per cent, despite an increase in government funding for the council. Residents will feel cheated – and rightly so.”
But Cllr Chris Saint (Cons, Shipston North), the leader of the district council, told the Herald this week: “The ‘council tax freeze’ grants which enabled us to keep it steady over the last four years have disappeared. The Treasury has withdrawn them.
“We have to make ends meet. There’s a risk of cutting services, which is why we’ve instituted a review for when funding gets even tougher than it is now.”
Cllr Saint added: “Basically we’re in a position now to make ends meet. Small increases are the ‘norm’ to protect our services.”
And he pointed out that the withdrawal of the “council tax freeze” grant was announced by the government as recently as 17th December 2015 – thus prompting the need for a tax increase despite the manifesto “aim” to keep it at the same level.
