Conservative-Led Surrey County Council Plans 15% Council Tax Hike

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-38678629

"A Conservative-run council wants to raise its tax by 15% in the next financial year, blaming government cuts and increased demand for social care"

But I thought Tory Councils were supposed to be cheaper than non-Tory ones, or have I got that wrong somehow ?

[webbo3]

It's a proposal Mikey, there will be a referendum, which I expect will be respected.

Surrey to hold referendum on 15% council tax hike to fund social care
http://news.sky.com/story/surrey-to-hold-referendum-on-15-council-tax-rise-to-fund-social-care-10734359


Dave.

[ToraToraTora]

every rule has an exception mikey!

[Zacs-Master]

From the article:
The proposed increase would add nearly £200 to a Band D bill, bringing it to about £1,500.

From the Gov'ts statistics for this year:
The average Band D council tax set by local authorities in
England for 2016-17 will be £1,530

So yes, it looks like the Surrey's conservative council is slightly cheaper than average.

All the stats are here if you'd like to trawl thru them and answer your own question.
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/512402/Council_tax_levels_set_by_local_authorities_in_England_2016-17.pdf

[mikey4444]

Zacs....I am not sure about England, but here in Swansea, a Band D house would only cost £1331 per annum, quite a bit below Surrey.

But, when inflation is so low, a rise of 15% in one year, seems extreme to me.

Supposing any Referendum were to reject this massive rise, what Council services would be axed to make up the short-fall ?

[Zacs-Master]

I'd rather work on facts than supposition. If Surrey are raising the CT to a level slightly below average, I can only suppose they were pretty cheap previously, backing up your 'thought'.

[mikey4444]

Zacs....does Surrey Council really think that local people are going to vote for, and put up with a 15% rise ?

[ToraToraTora]

it seems that even if they rise 15% they are cheaper than most so they have been cheap so their residents are well ahead anyway.

[Zacs-Master]

I have no idea Mikey. Have my figures cast any light on whether you 'got that wrong somehow'?

[mikey4444]

Well, Swansea is Labour-controlled, and its cheaper than Surrey, although comparisons are not that easy I suppose !

[Zacs-Master]

Well, that's pretty conclusive then!

[ToraToraTora]

"But, at the pinch, UK Ministers may then say: "So Holyrood declines to consent? These things. How sad. We had hoped to proceed by consensus but hey and, indeed, ho. Westminster is sovereign. Onwards and upwards." - so they have no effect, beyond whining about it, QED.

[mikey4444]

TTT...wrong thread perhaps ? ( easy to do ! )

[ToraToraTora]

yes wrong thread!

[ABerrant]

"Well, Swansea is Labour-controlled, and its cheaper than Surrey, although comparisons are not that easy I suppose !"

Council Tax Band D 2016-17
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Surrey CC - £1,268.28

Swansea - £1,383.75 (areas without community councils)

[Example Swansea areas with community councils]
Killay - £1,392.94
Mawr - £1,447.09

http://www.swansea.gov.uk/billinformation
https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/84428/Council-Tax-2016_v3.pdf

[mikey4444]

I think some are missing the point here.

I have just seen the Tory Leader of Surrey Council, David Hodge, being interviewed in CH4 News. He said that he had a very real choice to make.
He either has to raise Council Tax, or he has make cuts to his Social Care program.

He has had meetings with Surrey's 11 MPs, and guess what......they are all Tory, and they are all Tory big-hitters, like Grayling, Jeremy Hunt, Gove, and Hammond, the Chancellor ! All Tory.

But its Hammond's cuts to Surrey's Budget that is the cause of the problem.
Kathy Newman asked him what happened when he met these ministers, he said that they expressed sympathy, but no amount of sympathy was going to help in his Social Care difficulties.

Surrey would seem to be just the sort of area that the Tories should be most proud of.....100% record when it comes to MP's and a loyal local Council. But a Council that is hoping to raise the main tax on their residents by a wacking great 15%, at a time of austerity.

We are all in this together ?.....not in Surrey they aren't.

[Zacs-Master]

Mikey, no one is missing the point. You tried to have another dig at the Conservative party and failed. Miserably. Again.

[Haggisdj]

My understanding is that by 2020 all funding to Local Government will cease. Is this not something that will eventfully affect us all?

[Zacs-Master]

Haggis, I think you're slightly off-beam:
'reductions in the central government grant to local government – set to decline by 53% to £5.4 billion between now and 2020 - See more at: http://www.npi.org.uk/blog/local-government/local-government-will-be-uncharted-water-2020/#sthash.Ka2goI2q.dpuf'

[mikey4444]

Zacs....failed ? ...really ?

This is a flagship Tory controlled Council, in an exclusively Tory part of Britain, and yet the Leader of that Council is having to contemplate huge rises in C.Tax, to pay for Social Care, brought on cuts made to its budget, by....guess who ?.....
A Local MP, who just happens to be Chancellor !

Right on the button, not failed at all.