Council Tax - Labour freeze policy means pay less

Medway Labour is pleased to see that our manifesto promise to freeze Council tax has come into effect as the letters land on Medway resident doorsteps.

Labour led on the Council Tax freeze in the Council chamber in 2011 because we wanted to give residents a little extra in tough times.

Contrast this with the Tories; they have just put up VAT on pastries, introduced the Granny Tax on pensioners and have allowed cash for access for the highest office in the land. They are simply without dignity and can not be trusted. Out of touch elitists.

Dont let the same old Tories bully you; in a corner the ruthless and tribal instincts of the right come into clear view. The rank politicisation of the tanker strikes - before the date of the strike and ACAS negotiations have even been announced - show the Tories are playing base politics with the public. They are trying to politicise the strikes and then label Labour the friends of the Unions. It is something out of the 1980s and the public alas dont believe a word of it anymore.

Divide and rule is finished; sadly no one sent the memo to Francis Maude who over-reached today, leading to the prospect of rationing before a strike is even announced. Same old incompetent Tories

It is the same old Tories; Taxing you and your family whilst giving tax breaks to millionaires. Playing politics with employment disputes in an attempt to curry favour with a public struggling because of their economic failure to secure growth. It is base and rootless politics; same old Tories.

Out of touch and in many Council chambers in the UK; soon to be out of office.

£6m Outstanding Council Tax Bill

Do you honestly think that Medway Conservatives are fiscally competent?

The news that Medway was the worst local authority in the entire South East for uncollected Council Tax with almost £6m outstanding is an outrage which serves to highlight the total incomptence of the current Conservative administration.

This figure has worsened on my piece in late 2010 when the Conservatives had failed to collect £4m in Council tax. This is now the twelfth year running that our bill has continued to rise.

Over the same period we have seen other Authorities reduce the outstanding Council tax debts so there is simply no excuse. Unless you consider incompetence as an excuse?

This blog would suggest that the local Tories have just continued to blindly ignore the problem; this has those that pay Council Tax continue suffering the cuts to Sure Start, Libraries and other services which impact the front line, whilst a number of people are getting away with out paying.

Despite all the hot air about managing your money sensibly this current Council stands in shame as the worst performer when compared with all the other 67 Authorities in the South East. A position which serves to highlight why the Conservatives locally can not be trusted with the finances on the Council.

The Council spin machine incorrectly stated that this was only in comparison with smaller district Councils. However Slough, Southampton and Brighton & Hove are all Unitary Authorities so this is a flawed response.

We have yet to have any apology from the Medway Conservatives and not one member of the administration has deemed it appropriate to comment on their shameful legacy.

As the budget day approaches the public can smell the stench of Tory mismanagement as predicted by this blog in December. The simple fact this is but the latest in a sorry saga of financial mismanagement.

Councillor Jarretts budgetary incompetence is well documented and this latest piece of news just serves to reinforce his record; no grip, no clue, no future:

Bus Station overspend

Stoke Crossing overspend

Chatham regeneration overspend

Walderslade School overspend

Fraudulant Activity

Non-Council Tax collection (again)

The above is merely the tip of the iceberg but adds up to multiple millions of pounds of your money squandered.

The incompetence permeates every level of the local Conservative Party; they have simply lost grip of good financial governance.

Credit cards and Councillor Allowances

It seems that despite the issue of cuts and value for money being at the forefront of the local election campaign we can now see proof positive that Conservative Councillors, not only cost the tax payers more, but are simply not willing to state a simple position; that we need to accept a universal reduction in allowances.

Some might say it is ironic that it is Labour leading on a reduction of Councillor allowances but then the opposition can see the staggering levels of money spent on 'non-jobs' and can not stand idly back as public money, your money, tax payers money, is frittered into the every groaning pockets of the Conservative administration.

The irony is that the Tories talk the talk on spending your money wisely, but time and again, they are seen severely wanting. Some might even claim that the Tories pay lip-service to the issue, and then continue spending.

Labour stood on a committment in the local election, led by Cllr Paul Godwin, that we would reduce Councillor allowances. A costed and sensible position which could have been universally agreed.

It was not.

Meanwhile, the finance chief Councillor Jarrett, who has been in charge of the finances of the Council accumulating the credit card 'bills' is also, ironically, one of the largest beneficiaries from the allowances and expenses system, some £29,852.

Labour has presented a consistent position.

Not only is our Council credit card spend on marketing above that of other authorities and needs to be justified to the public, but it appears whilst accumulating such sums the Tories are still not walking the walk on their own allowances and expences.

The Medway Tories it would appear are happy to accumulate large 'bills' whilst being paid what some may consider an above fair wage for the pleasure.

Food for thought for people who are struggling with their own personal finances in these austere times

Credit Card Disclosure

For those that moan about Freedom of Information requests there are some that reveal something significant.

One such revelation is found in the Daily Telegraph this week with the details of spend on what can be defined as the Medway Council Credit card.

Some interesting figures lie within from this Conservative, 'value-for-money', Council.

What is clear though is that that without this Freedom of Information request the Conservative administration would not have revealed this information voluntarily to the public and it would have remained behind closed doors.

Medway Labour have rightly examined the figures and there are some concerns around the amount spent on marketing materials and on ‘online search engine advertising’ versus similar sized Councils, including Brighton & Hove.

The question must be asked whether this type of spend represents value-for-money?

That is for you to decide as a member of the public.

Tories squandering millions on Consultants

The scandal of Tory fat cat perks is put into perspective today as Labour research reveals that Medway Conservatives have spent £1.25m of your Council Tax payers money on consultants.

This at the same time Medway Conservatives are making Council staff, dinner ladies and teaching assistants redundant.

This blog has commented on the extent of incompetence we have seen on the Council for close to three years, but this is a truly staggering sum of money that has been wasted to create, yes ironically, a more 'efficient council'

The Tories talk about spending your money wisely but this shocking revelation shows that underneath we have nothing but hot air on fiscal responsibility locally.

The Labour group has also discovered that £1 million will be paid to PricewaterhouseCoopers which is apparently lending itself to this 'better for less' models.

Consultancies are known in the financial services circuit as being comprised of bright boffins who are great at grand ideas but who quickly leave before they see the results of their actions. Spending such staggering sums also show the Council lacks an ability to manage change itself which is worrying.

Labour Councillor Glyn Griffiths also highlighted the staggering sums paid in salaries to top Medway Council staff including

Chief Executive: Neil Davies - £140,640

Children's Services Director: Rose Collinson - £123,166

Regeneration & Environment Director: £119,155

The Labour Group has also discovered that since April the council has spent £300,000 on 'consultancy support' for teachers and head teachers, about £187,000 on children's services and £117,000 on street work inspections.

Councillor Jarrett may be a chancer but the figures say everything about the fiscal incompetence of his management style. Favouring over expensive consultants instead of spending on front line services is shameful at a time of fiscal austerity.

It is time to kick this long-standing incompetent, inept and utterly incapable administration from office.

Labour frozen your Council Tax

2-year Council tax freeze policy which will benefit people in Medway

The news from the budget last week that Labour has frozen Council tax for two years has been met positively on the phones tonight as Labour targets Lordswood & Capstone and Strood Rural as the key marginals in the up coming local election.

Labour have set some positive policy positions over the last three weeks from heritage-led regeneration programmes, supporting our Police and rolling out community pay-back to the Council tax freeze and cuts to fat cat Tory Councillor perks.

It can also be revealed that the average band D property in a Labour ward in Chatham pays less than an average band D property on Peninsula because of the additional precepts.

Meanwhile, Councillor Jarrett has belatedly responded to the Labour Council tax freeze announcement in a mildly desperate press statement today (looks like someone is desperate to keep his job after May!):

"Labour in Medway has no alternatives, no ideas and refuse to help hard working people by supporting [our] Council Tax freeze."

See above policy ideas on cutting Tory fat cat pay perks, on regeneration, on stamping out anti-social behaviour. Labour have indicated a two-year tax freeze because as a potential administration it is only right that people know where we stand.

More policies to come.

"They voted against a budget, which protects front line services;"

We did vote against the budget because it did cut front line services. Cllr Jarrett is being a chancer not a chancellor in a statement which beggars all common sense. It is simply beyond the belief of the independent voter to see £23.5m cuts as not having some impact.

See the fisking on this blog on the 'unprecedented' brutal cuts to front line services

"perhaps we can surmise from this that they would introduce swingeing cuts to key services like their counterparts have done in other local authorities."

An attempt to deflect as neither party has an influence on decisions made elsewhere and nor should we. The Tory government has indeed gerrymandered funding from poorer urban areas to leafy Surrey suburbs. Ironically this includes £3.5m of floor damping money from Medway.

"If they had any shred of credibility they would have supported our budget which offers residents low Council Tax bills, better services and value for money."

Labour have committed to a Council tax freeze, and incidentally established Medway Council with the lowest Council tax, which Cllr Jarrett inherited in 2003. And let us not forget it was the Conservartives in the 1990s that created the tax in the first place.

People are tired of the same old spin from the same old Tory faces.

Time for a new generation of change for Medway.

Tory jitters coming through

Medway Labour will freeze Council tax for two years if we form an administration

It seems like a few Tories are getting hot and bothered by the latest announcement by Medway Labour of a two-year Council tax freeze.

Given the Council tax freeze policy is supported by the Tory-led government they should be happy that the opposition has promoted this policy, as not only sensible under the current financial conditions with families struggling, but one that is a necessity for any party to communicate a clear position on Council tax before forming an administration.

That is not to say there are not major concerns around future Council revenues in years to come, but the overwhelming view of the electorate last May, whether some on the left like it or not, was that the public expect some cuts and have taxation levels eased on family budgets. Interestingly this may not be the same in 2015, if Labour can start to set out a clear vision - but that is another point.

The distinction now is between a Labour Party that would not have cut this aggressively and would have promoted investment in job schemes and public services, or a government which has presided over a double-dip and have cut too far and too fast.

Labour are not deficit deniers and this charge is quickly loosing steam as economic growth stagnates. It is the pace of deficit reduction coupled with the fact that if you do not get growth the interest repayments on future debt will be just as high, but the social impact of policies will be worse. This is a simple argument that Labour needs to manage.

Local Tories are rattled. Rattled by the polls, rattled by the laziness of their Councillors and rattled by a resurgent and aggressive opposition which has a new bench of talent for the future. There really is a clear distinction, not only visibly but also activity wise, between the Tory bench and the new generation Labour talent that has been attracted.

You can see how Tories are rattled by the responses to Labour policy positions over recent days which have verged on the hyper-aggressive to the sneering.

Instead of agreeing with cuts to fat cat salary perks, we have just had a tit-for-tat on which leader gets the most; not accepting the fact that public dislike all fat cat pay perks and that we should all accept a cut.

The response to cuts in police has been met with a tirade of wonk nonsense about how an elected commissioner can make up for a 1500 reduction in staff and a £52m cut in Policing. We have even had a denial about the impact of Police cuts. Fewer police will lead to an increase in crime. It is not rocket science.

Instead of being open and honest about the cuts in the budget we have had a turgidly slow response from the Conservatives and a whole lot of hot air on how it will not impact front line services. The public are not idiots; and they know a cut of £23.5m will hit the front line somewhere.

The administration has been lamentably weak and incoherent about its vision for Medway in future. As an administration, they have the resource to spell out this type of message, and they are not.

Over the coming weeks Labour will be highlighting additional policy positions. It is responsible perhaps for the governing party to respond in kind.

The fact is there are very distinct policy differences between the two major parties which this blog has served to highlight over the years.

The public now have a more developed understanding of these differences because of the internet then 2007.

I believe that the public are fed up with the mismanagement by the current Conservative Council and are looking for a change in May.

Labour commit to Council tax freeze

Welcome news announced tonight to a hall of anti-cuts campaigners and residents at Full Council of a freeze in Council tax for two years for local residents.

Labour would protect front line services but also stand up for the hard working families and young people of Medway who are struggling with monthly bills.

Cllr Griffiths (Labour Finance Spokesperson) tonight announced at the full budget meeting a two-year freeze in future Council tax for Medway residents if elected in May, and challenged the Medway Conservatives for the deceit over the VAT rise which has penalised the Medway middle class.

It is a real welcome to see Cllr Griffiths recognise that families are suffering because of the Conservative cuts to local services, train fare rises, fuel price hikes and the struggle around home budgets caused through concerns around the economy.

The Tories have fibbed. They pledged not to increase VAT, and increased it. They pledged not to increase train fares, and increased them. They pledged no NHS re-organisations; and have introduced a wholesale privatisation.

Cllr Griffiths also busted the myths around an alternative. If Labour had won the election, we would have had half the cuts that we observe today. That would mean real terms budgets to libraries, Sure Start, road re-surfacing and parks protected from the Tory axe.

The Conservatives are cutting too far and too fast and the latest GDP figures and future predictions of sluggish growth highlight why the Conservatives have taken the wrong approach. The George Osborne plan is reckless and shows how out of touch and elitist the Tories are; standing up for the wealthy few against the average hard working family.

A welcome development indeed and it shows Labour representing the mainstream and moderate majority of Medway residents.

Tory Council Tax Fiasco

The annual mockery by the Medway Conservatives on the hard-pressed tax payer of Medway has come once again.

The BBC tonight revealed that Medway Council is in arrears by some £4m. This is now the tenth year running that the Tories have run up a massive account deficit on the Council Tax.

The annual tax receipt for Medway is £96.9m in 2010/11. This figure represents 3.5-4.0% of the total tax take.

Over the same period Gravesham Council reduced its Council tax deficit from £2.0m to £1.3m. It is clear that Gravesham has a grip whilst Medway is simply failing to act.

The scale of this deficit makes a mockery out of the Tories tax position. How can the Tories claim to the friend of the tax-payer when they squander so much on poor schemes and fail to collect tax from thousands of residents. It is a total slap in the face.

£4m could be significant in mitigating cuts to front line services. The Conservatives have had a decade to get this under control but have failed.

Many feel that Tory tax increases are regressive and unfair. The VAT increase when fuel prices are at an all time high represent a slap in the face to the hardpressed tax payer of Medway.

Why should any of us pay Council Tax if the Conservatives can not be bothered to claim the money owed?

Tory Council Waste

Hat-tip to Philip Gamble on his post highlighting the latest piece of Council tax payer waste that we as residents are forced to endure from the Medway Conservatives.

Despite massive cuts to education budgets and a Cllr Jarrett waxing lyrical about tough financial choices ahead, it seems the Medway Conservatives are still happy to flush our money down the toilet on advertising.

This blogger, who lives in Birmingham, noted the Medway Council ad on the left of his Facebook page several times over the past few days. It links to the recycling section of the council website. He lives 130 miles away from Medway.

Perhaps Councillor Jarrett is spending too much time shooting and fishing whilst officers spend your money on such schemes.

Why are Medway Conservatives spending council tax payers money to encourage taxpayers to recycle by advertising on Facebook?

Facebook does of course have a geo-locational option for adverts, but for some reason the whole of the UK now has a link to Medway's recycling changes.

Musings from Medway also asked friends in Manchester and Cornwall to check that they could also receive an advert on how to recycle from Medway Council, despite the fact they lived outside the authority boundaries. They could.

When voters are patronised by Medway Conservatives about tough choices around spending, they should perhaps control their own spending rather then hectoring and lecturing the opposition.

This is not the only case of squandering Council payers money.

Good use of tax payer cash?

Residents will have noticed the quite blatantly coloured political adverts and lamp post signs popping up across Medway. The colours are coincidently the campaign colours of Conservative Party. A pleasant blue and green hue.

As a Council tax payer to see Council funded signs on how to put litter in the bins is not only patronising in the extreme, it is a total and utter waste of money. I do not care what the colour, it just stinks of opportunism and more importantly, a waste of money.

Adverts like this do not put front line services first, they merely waste money at a time when the Council is claiming to the public that they are trying to cut back. It stinks of hypocrisy. It wreaks of partisanship and it serves the interests of no one but a few Council Cabinet members with career ambitions to fulfil.

When the Council is cutting staff and is squeezed for money it is perhaps in poor taste that they feel able to spend money on such adverts.

We all love Medway. Some more than others. I do not need a Council funded advert to tell me this. Especially at a time of austerity.