"Council tax bills in Coventry set to rise by maximum amount possible"

[dutchman]

Councils are being allowed to increase the amount of council tax paid by residents by five per cent without public consultation



Council tax is set to rise more than ever in Coventry next year with some expected to pay £100 more. People living in Coventry will be asked for their views on the tax hike in a consultation next year.

It will then be part of a budget voted on at a full council meeting in February 2023. Band D households in Coventry will pay £100 more in tax next year if the rise goes ahead.

The news comes after the government allowed councils across the UK to raise more taxes than in previous years. Powers to raise council tax by five per cent each year without a referendum were given to local authorities in autumn. Around 95 per cent of councils across the UK are expected to raise their tax levels by this amount.

Labour councillor Richard Brown, cabinet member for finance and resources, said the move is necessary to avoid cuts to services. He told a council cabinet meeting: "We are absolutely mindful of cost of living pressures but unless we want to cut services to children and adult social care we have no choice.

"Two-thirds of the budget goes towards children's services and adult social care. The turmoil and indeed crass incompetence of national governance has seen this can again kicked down the road. Local authorities have been left to fight inflation on their own."

He claimed the council had lost out on almost £1 billion of government money due to core funding cuts in the past 12 years. The tax hike comes from a rise in council tax of just under three per cent and a rise in the adult social care precept of two per cent.

After the meeting, Cllr Brown said he's planning to "shake up" a public consultation on the budget. He said he will be going to public meetings to talk about the reasons for the tax hike.

He's not expecting the move to be popular but wants to explain to people why the council are doing it. Cllr Brown told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): "I am sure there will be very vocal people that will say the same things. I am probably going to have to take that on the chin."

Asked if there was any fat that could be trimmed from the council, he said: "In all honesty, in an organisation this size, can I honestly say we've made every single efficiency saving we can do? I don't know anybody that can say that."

He added: "I think there's been a change over the years in the culture [of local authorities.] We're constantly seeking value, constantly reviewing where we are."

[rebbonk]

This was a foregone conclusion with the ar$eholes that run this city.

[dutchman]

Council tax set to rise by £80 a year



The majority of people living in Coventry will pay about an extra £80 a year, if plans to increase council tax by the maximum 5% are passed by the local authority.

Although a broadly balanced budget has been put forward for next year, shortfalls of £30m in 2024-25 and £42m in 2025-26 have been predicted.

The city council said the council tax rise was not something it wanted to do and it could not rule out cuts in future years.

Cabinet member for strategic finance and resources Richard Brown said 75% of residents fell into council tax bands A or B.

"It's really difficult to be able to have any medium-term planning, financial planning, and what we're about is surviving from year to year," he said.

"It really is a hand-to-mouth existence."

The cabinet member said although the Labour-controlled council had been handed a loan by the government to deal with inflationary pressures, it was also facing "rising demand on services".

Asked if cuts and tax rises would be inevitable for the forseeable future, he replied: "I can't rule out cuts in future years, if things continue the way they are.

"It's been sticking plaster finance for the last three to four years and the plaster's getting bigger and bigger."

Mr Brown also said the local authority was looking to tackle the £30m shortfall expected in the next financial year.

Shadow cabinet member Tim Sawdon said he guessed some council tax rise was inevitable, but "whether it should be the 5% I think is another matter".

Asked about Conservative councils charging for green waste, he replied: "I think we'd want to look at how effectively that worked before we came to a conclusion [as to] whether that was right or wrong."

Mr Sawdon added: "Since the pre-Budget report came out, we've found that the government has actually given Coventry £28m more in this last year than was expected, so that's why we've got a balanced budget this year."

[dutchman]

Council tax to rise by £85 in Coventry after hike agreed



Household bills will soar by an average £85 per year in Coventry in April following a vote by the city council.

A move to raise council tax by 4.99%, the highest amount possible without a referendum, was backed by the ruling Labour group and the city's sole Green councillor at a meeting yesterday (21 February.)

It was not supported by the Conservative opposition and the group failed to get through an amendment to raise council tax by 1% less.

A heated debate between both groups centred on whether council reserves could be used to ease the burden on taxpayers this year.

The Conservatives' Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance, Cllr Tim Sawdon accused the Labour group of "adding to people's problems" with the tax rise.

He said the council has useable reserves of almost £39 million pounds - including £11 million from the government to help council tackle Covid legacy issues, a £10 million general fund used to manage 'unforeseen risk.'

"We're suggesting using just £1 and a half million pounds of that total, to lighten the burden on our taxpayers."

"The money belongs to the people of the city and by your own admission it's there to be used when times are tough," he added.

"Just give the council taxpayer a bit of a break and cut the bill by only just 1%. 1% which you can easily afford."

But the council's Cabinet Member for Finance, Labour Cllr Richard Brown, criticised this idea as a "disaster waiting to happen."

"This is a short-term perspective which ignores the need to deal with ongoing financial issues and the need to invest for future financial success," he said.

Cllr Brown listed overspends from £11 to £8.5 million that the council had faced over the past year, due to challenges from inflation and HGV driver strikes.

"That's what you use reserves for, you don't build it into your future models, into your budget," he said.

"The council has put itself in a strong position to survive the kind of financial shocks we are enduring currently, and I am not about to abandon this strategy in favour of short-term political expediency."

Cllr Brown acknowledged times are tough for residents and said the plans to raise council tax by the maximum were made "only after very careful thought."

He admitted many respondents to a public consultation on the budget weren't in favour of the rise - which he said was "hardly surprising."

"However, I was struck by the significant number of people who indicated that they were prepared to pay an increased level of council tax to help maintain services for vulnerable people."

If the council were not to raise tax by the maximum allowed this year, it would have to plug the gap with savings in services, he added.

"This would not just affect our services next year, but for every year to come after that, reflecting a permanent reduction in the council's tax base."

For most people who are supported by the council's tax reduction scheme, bills will rise by 25p a week, totalling £13 a year.

Green councillor Stephen Gray supported the Labour position and voted against the Conservative amendment.

He said: "Whilst there are definitely some good things in this Conservative amendment with the additional spending, I do have concerns with reducing the budget by £1 and a half million pounds not just this year but every year.

"In the cost of living crisis, it would be nice to be able to keep the cost of council tax down.

"But this money from the Covid fund could be better invested in providing better services, in doing things that would reduce our spending in the longer term and enable us to actually keep council tax rises down in future."

The Conservative amendment was rejected and the Labour group and Green councillor voted through the council tax rise and 2023/24 budget.

Watching in the chamber, a Holbrooks resident who wished not to be named told the Local Democracy Reporting Service she was "very concerned" about the council tax rise.

"It's an anxiety for somebody," she said. "They've already got extra money like they talked about. They considered keeping it for a rainy day - we've got a rainy day now."

[rebbonk]

The incompetent wastrels continue to fleece the local population