Government blamed for council woes

Published in Weston & Worle News on Thu 9th Feb 2006

A packed meeting of pensioners gave North Somerset councillor Mike Bell a two-hour grilling on why the new Government grant is not enough to keep council tax bills down. At the Senior Citizens' Forum meeting last Wednesday they asked the council's executive member for finance why the grant was paid at only £200 per head of population, instead of the average £400 per head for other councils and quizzed him on whether the council had considered fairer methods of taxation.

Cllr Bell said he felt the Government did not take into account the tourist industry putting a strain on services in the town and said the Government were 'incredibly slow to react' to population growth, having a 'strange attraction to stability'.

He said: "In the north the population is going down and yet their grant is going up whereas our grant is barely standing still.

"In the south west we need more investment and we also have the stability so it's not fair.

"The council is doing what the Government wants us to do but it rewards high-spending councils by giving them more money.

"Whatever tax the Government decides on will not make much difference unless the balance of funding is sorted out.

"If the funding was at an average level we could cut £300 off council tax bills next year".

Cllr Bell dismissed the suggestion of replacing council tax with increased VAT and a higher rate of income tax because it would mean the Government making decisions about the way services were run in the community, taking it away from local councils.

He also said the Senior Citizens' Forum had put forward some 'good suggestions' about further cuts in council spending, such as looking at staff car parking and allowances.

The Lib Dem councillor said if the council tax continued the Government would have to look at the revaluation of properties to take into account increases in house prices.

He also answered questions about pensions, the regionalisation of the police force and local issues.

Chairman Ken Lacey urged members to lobby councillors in a council tax protest when the budget is read out at a full meeting of the council on Tuesday, February 28.