Richard Ottaway MP: Press releasses

PRESS RELEASE

17 November2003

Ottaway: council tax could soar by £125 this year

Richard Ottaway, Conservative MP for Croydon South, has warned that council tax bills could soar next year in Croydon. Local government leaders have advised that a shortfall in government funding will force council tax bills across the country to rise by four times the rate of inflation. In Croydon, this would add an extra £125 on Band D bills, taking the yearly tax bill to £1,211 - equivalent to a monthly bill of £101.

Richard Ottaway said:

"Local government leaders, from all parties, have warned that council tax could rocket for yet another year. The Labour Government have turned council tax into a stealth tax. In Croydon, local residents are already paying £461 more on Band D bills since 1997. Next year, bills may shoot up to a worrying £1,211 per year.

"Whitehall bureaucrats have rigged local funding to take resources away from councils, forcing them to increase taxes to prevent cuts in frontline public services. Councils have also had to bear the cost of extra burdens and regulations imposed from above.

"A potential monthly tax bill of £101 will be all the harder to pay for working people who have suffered from Labour's jobs tax, supported by the Liberal Democrats, of higher National Insurance. Croydon's residents are being asked to pay ever higher taxes, without the improvements in our public services that we all want to see."

Ends

Notes to Editors: On 11 November, the Local Government Association, in a cross-party letter to Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, warned of a £800 million funding gap for local authorities, forcing councils to hike council tax by 11.5 per cent next year. http://www.lga.gov.uk/PressRelease.asp?id=SXAED2-A781C996 They note,
"The Treasury assumes a council tax rise of around 7 per cent to maintain existing spending levels. The Association of Police Authorities point to a police funding shortfall that would equate to 1.5 per cent on next year's council tax. Last year's school's funding shortfall was not a one-off but a reflection of ongoing costs, at around 1-2 per cent of school budgets amounting to £300m (around 1.5 per cent council tax). New responsibilities in adult and children's social services, licensing and environment are estimated to amount to well over £300m (around 1.5 per cent council tax)."

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