‘Inflation-busting’ tax rise approved for Coventry residents...

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Cllr Richard Brown said the city had moved on from 'hope to optimism'



Coventry residents will be paying 3.9 per cent more in council tax from April after the controlling Labour group's proposals were voted through at yesterday's (Tuesday) full council meeting.

The opposition Tory group called it an 'inflation-busting' hike and put forward an alternative 3 per cent rise while Reform's amendment was for 3.2 per cent. Local authorities can raise bills by a maximum of 5 per cent before a referendum is required.

The Conservative's alternative proposals were presented by Cllr Peter Male who laid out some areas where his party would save money and others where extra would be spent over the coming year.

He said: "People of Coventry will pay an inflation-busting 3.9 per cent. They are paying a heavy price under Labour.

"The Conservative group has identified a range of savings. We have also decided to allocate some of the additional funding this year towards priorities that better reflect those of residents here in Coventry."

He said the Tories would scrap the council's Your Coventry magazine which would save £65.000 along with slashing £230,000 from the corporate communication budget of £1.7m. The group also suggested saving £340,000 by deleting two senior management posts – the director of efficiency and director of communications – and remove deputy cabinet member posts while reducing the numbers in the cabinet from ten to eight. The total savings proposed would be £915,000.

Cllr Male added that these savings would allow a lower 3 per cent council tax rate. He said: "This is in line with inflation. When the council has excess funding it is right that some of this is shared with hard-working council tax payers across the city. This is a Conservative group priority."

Cllr Jackie Gardiner put forward a range of Reform measures that would save just over £1m and allow for a council tax rise of 3.2 per cent.

She told the meeting that her party would save £350,000 by pursuing shared services with other authorities and outsourcing, save £107,000 with the use of enhanced AI translation services and cut £100,000 from the communications budget.

She added: "The Reform group's vision to address the immediate needs of the city takes into account the consultation that was undertaken and can be split into five key areas. Cleaning up the city, mending and maintaining the city, investing in young people and the community, keeping down bills and improving the attraction of our town centre."

Among the ideas was extra money for road and pavement repairs and a £100,000 fund to help residents clear up graffiti in their community. She also stated that rather than install a multi-use games area at the War Memorial Park – Labour's plan – Reform would replace the water feature next year saying it was 'a feature that has delighted generations of Coventry children'.

The Conservative and Reform amendments to the budget were rejected along with a suggestion from the Green and Independents for amended library hours. Labour's council tax rise and budget were voted through by 35 votes to nine.

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/inflation-busting-tax-rise-approved-33485993