Coventry City Council look set to increase council tax

[dutchman]

It was meant to be the offer you couldn't refuse.

"If you keep your council tax frozen, we'll give you a grant equivalent increasing it by 1%."

Last year, the overwhelming majority of councils were persuaded. Out of 35 in the West Midlands, only three defied the government with council tax increases confined to Telford and Wrekin, Stoke-on-Trent (both Labour) and Lichfield District (interestingly, Conservative).

Just before Christmas, the Communities Secretary Eric Pickles told the Commons that councils had "a moral duty" to maintain the freeze next year as well, in order not go back to what he called the "years of hurt" when council tax bills had doubled under Labour.

But the signs are his blandishments may be less effective this time. In the West Midlands region 10 local authorities are considering a council tax increase in 2013-14: Birmingham (Labour), Cannock Chase (Labour), Coventry (Labour), Dudley (Labour), Herefordshire (Conservative), Lichfield (Conservative), Malvern Hills (Conservative), Tamworth (Conservative) and Telford & Wrekin (Labour)

So what has changed?

In the case of our largest authority - Birmingham - the answer is party control. The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition was replaced by Labour. But four of the other councils are Conservative-controlled, including Lichfield, which is expected to defy Mr Pickles for a second year.

The bigger difference is the increasing pressure on local authority budgets, and confirmation that the spending squeeze will last until 2017 at the very least.

Birmingham's Labour Leader, Sir Albert Bore says councils will be left with no option to decommission some services altogether. He says the government grants received by his council are being cut twice as sharply as the English average.

He calls it "The Jaws of Doom".

One jaw is the reduced spending power because of those cuts in government grants and the general condition of the economy. The other, the increasing demands placed on local authorities by the weakest and most vulnerable in the community who need their services most when times are hard.

"Big City" councils also have generally fewer revenue-generating opportunities than those in more affluent areas where fewer people depend on local services.

It all adds to the general sense of injustice

But the government is not alone in believing that many local authorities could do more to ease the burden they place on hard-pressed council tax payers.

In a recent interview on the BBC's Sunday Politics programme, the Conservative Leader of Staffordshire County Council, Philip Atkins, was adamant that many of them had a way to go yet in learning from private businesses how to do more for less.

Mr Atkins said more services could be merged across local boundaries such as in Bromsgrove and Redditch who share a chief executive.

But the more I hear of these exchanges, the more I see a bigger political picture emerging.

The government clearly want to bind local authorities into the UK deficit reduction process, to 'take their share of the responsibility' as ministers put it. But is it also about making sure the blame is shared. Devolved, even?

So the number of Conservative-run authorities planning council tax increases represents a serious challenge.

But Labour's leaders have a struggle of their own.

They are increasingly focusing on building-up their credibility on the economy in the run-up to the 2015 General Election, accepting that deficit reduction must continue into the next Parliament but devising ways of distributing the pain more fairly, they'll say, than the present government.

"Fairness" I predict, will be the political buzz word over the next two years.

Fairness to local authorities.

Fairness to council tax payers.

Or maybe just equal unfairness to everyone.

Patrick Burns Political editor, Midlands

[dutchman]

Proposal for two per cent Council Tax hike in Coventry blasted by Tory councillors

A POSSIBLE two per cent hike in Coventry council tax bills has been slammed by Tory councillors.

Conservatives at Coventry City Council are calling for another council tax freeze from April, when the 2013/14 budget is set this month.

They say ruling Labour councillors would have “no excuse” for a two per cent rise, when Labour-controlled Birmingham City Council and Conservative-run Warwickshire County Council plan to freeze bills.

Coun John Blundell, deputy leader of the council’s Conservatives, said adding nearly £30 on bills for families paying the average band D council tax could not be justified.

He pointed to a government offer to compensate councils which freeze bills – with a reimbursement equivalent to a one per cent rise.

Coun Blundell added: “As the cost of living continues to rise, a freeze in council tax for the last two years has helped local families.”

He added: “ I am calling on the Labour party in Coventry to do the same. We will be putting forward an alternative budget with no increase for 2013/14.”

Deputy council leader George Duggins said: “We are yet to take a final decision. We’ll take no lessons from the Tories, when they’ve created a mess with the economy.”

His final budget plans are expected next week, following consultation with staff and unions on his pre-budget report since December.

It proposed a two per cent rise in council tax, to make more resources available in the “short-term and long-term to help protect services provided to the people of Coventry”.

Council finance officers advised the government’s offer of a reimbursement was proposed for two years only.

If lost after that, it would potentially create more budget problems in the years ahead.

The pre-budget report also forecasts a £28million savings requirement in 2013/14.

Another 800 job losses are expected over the next two years, doubling headcount reductions since 2011 when the government’s deficit reduction period began.

Labour council leaders blame 27 per cent government funding cuts to councils by 2015, and the failure of the coalition’s austerity cuts plan to eliminate the national deficit by 2015.

Labour leaders’ final budget plans are expected to be voted through the budget setting full council meeting on February 26, with the party commanding a large majority.