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Plans to freeze council tax for Yeovil residents – saving £213
Conservative proposals to help families and pensioners from soaring cost of living
Hard-pressed local residents across Yeovil, Crewkerne, Chard and Ilminister could benefit from lower council tax, under national plans which have been drawn up by Conservatives. Taxpayers in Scotland benefited from a council tax freeze this year, thanks to a deal struck between Scottish local authorities and the Scottish Executive. But those living south of the border were not so lucky.
The new Conservative proposal involves a partnership with local councils, giving them extra support to deliver a council tax freeze in the first two years of a Conservative Government.
If a council keeps its council tax bill rise to 2.5% or less, then central government will provide sufficient additional resources to fund a further, additional 2.5% reduction in council tax bills.
Each council will be completely free to accept or reject this offer. Those that accept the offer will be able to give their taxpayers a complete freeze, or even reduction, for two years in a row.
Across South Somerset, the value of a council tax freeze would be equivalent to saving £213 over the two years. Under Labour, council tax has soared by 105% over the last ten years, taking the average Band D bill to £1418.
The cost to central government of reducing council tax would be funded from savings from cutting central spending on public sector consultants and advertising, and not from the overall local government budget. The Labour Government is now the second biggest advertiser in Britain, spending five times more than Tescos. It has also been slammed for the irresponsible and expensive use of consultancy firms, on top of civil servants.
Kevin Davis, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Yeovil, said:
“Under a Labour government, and a Lib Dem Council, council tax has soared in Somerset, pushing up the cost of living. In this current Labour financial crisis families and pensioners cannot afford yet more tax rises from Gordon Brown or slashed services from the Lib Dem Council.
“The next Conservative Government will work with local councils to freeze council tax for at least two years.
“Instead of rising council tax bills year after year under Labour, millions of families will get help at the time they need it most. Conservatives will not leave people to struggle with the credit crunch on their own.”
Details of the proposal
CONSERVATIVE PLANS TO FREEZE COUNCIL TAX
In its first two full years in office, a Conservative Government will offer a deal to local councils in England:
If a council can keep its council tax bill rise to 2.5% or below, then central government will provide sufficient additional resources out of the savings made from consultancy and advertising budgets to fund a further 2.5% reduction in the council tax.
Councils that accept the offer will therefore be able to offer their constituents a complete freeze, or even reduction, in council tax for two years in a row
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October 13, 2008 at 1:00 pm
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ISITFAIR COUNCIL TAX PROTEST GROUP
For further press information, please contact: Christine Melsom on 01428-712680 or E-mail c@isitfair.co.uk
01 October 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
[start of press release]
ISITFAIR CAMPAIGN Asks: Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?
The Conservatives are the only party to have taken the bull by the horns and addressed the council tax problem during their party conference, and credit must be given for that. It is to be regretted that neither the Government nor the Lib Dems felt it necessary to throw any crumb of comfort to the hard pressed council taxpayer.
The announcement that a Conservative government would freeze council tax for at least the first two years of office is a start, but in the meantime they should concentrate on the reform of the present system. They brought in this wretched tax, this Government has indecently exploited it, and it would be very good to see the next Government, (who ever it is) put things right as urgently as possible. They must bear in mind:
a. A tax based wholly on property values and with unsustainable increases can never be fair. This tax is now less affordable year on year and hardship is now being felt by a much larger section of the community.
b. Two years of static bills (as in Scotland) would alleviate some of the pain if we knew that there was a crock of gold at the end of the rainbow. However, it could be another eighteen months before the next general election, time enough for any party to be prepared to announce not just a freeze but also a solution. We would like to think that the two year period during which the Conservative Party proposes that CT is frozen, would be used to phase in a new, fairer way to fund local government.
[end of press release]
For further press information, please contact: Christine Melsom on 01428-712680 or E-mail c@isitfair.co.uk
Issued by Isitfair Campaign, Headley, Hampshire GU35 8PJ
NOTES TO EDITOR
Isitfair is a UK-wide, non party-political campaign for the reform of the existing property-value based system of Council Tax.
Isitfair wants a fairer system of taxation for local services that is related to everyone’s ability to pay.
Isitfair represents people of all age groups (not only pensioners) who are unfairly affected by Council Tax.