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HERE TO CHALLENGE! A GUIDE TO WHATS HAPPENING IN LGBT BRIGHTON & HOVE
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Greens call on Councils to join tax rebellion
By James Ledward
Feb 16, 2012 - 10:15:38 AM
Feb 16, 2012 - 10:15:38 AM
Brighton & Hove's Green council administration have published its finalised budget proposals for 2012-14, including the long-heralded 3.5% council tax rise.
With only a few weeks to go until council tax deadlines, fewer than half the local authorities in England and Wales have so far decided whether to freeze their council tax for 2012 or follow the position that Brighton & Hove City Council have taken to increase it.
Of 353 councils, only 171 (49%) have declared their hand; of these, one in ten (17) are rejecting the coalition freeze and nearly a third of those rebels are Conservative councils.
Cllr Jason Kitcat, B&H Green Cabinet Member for Finance & Central Services, said:
“When the Greens in Brighton & Hove announced the UK’s first council tax increase for the year, we did so because we’d read the small print. The government freeze and its associated one-off ‘bribe’ look good up front but make no long-term financial sense unless you want permanently smaller local government and greatly reduced frontline services.
“When other councils followed our lead, they did so for exactly the same reason, and that’s true of Tory as well as Labour councils. Like us, they needed to protect their finances so as to protect vital frontline services against a deep, long-term decline.
“The remaining councils know we’re right, which is why so few have declared and so many are now having fierce internal debates. As the remaining half make up their minds over the coming weeks, and as the rebellion gathers pace, we expect many more to join us in showing integrity against what are, frankly, bully boy tactics from local authorities minister Eric Pickles.
“Local authorities have a duty of care to their vulnerable local residents, not to the Coalition government’s policies. The best way local authorities can protect themselves is to be brave, stand up to Mr Pickles and choose financial common sense. So we call on all remaining local authorities to join us, protect your residents’ future and take up the rebel cause.”
Cllr Jason Kitcat
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With only a few weeks to go until council tax deadlines, fewer than half the local authorities in England and Wales have so far decided whether to freeze their council tax for 2012 or follow the position that Brighton & Hove City Council have taken to increase it.
Of 353 councils, only 171 (49%) have declared their hand; of these, one in ten (17) are rejecting the coalition freeze and nearly a third of those rebels are Conservative councils.
Cllr Jason Kitcat, B&H Green Cabinet Member for Finance & Central Services, said:
“When the Greens in Brighton & Hove announced the UK’s first council tax increase for the year, we did so because we’d read the small print. The government freeze and its associated one-off ‘bribe’ look good up front but make no long-term financial sense unless you want permanently smaller local government and greatly reduced frontline services.
“When other councils followed our lead, they did so for exactly the same reason, and that’s true of Tory as well as Labour councils. Like us, they needed to protect their finances so as to protect vital frontline services against a deep, long-term decline.
“The remaining councils know we’re right, which is why so few have declared and so many are now having fierce internal debates. As the remaining half make up their minds over the coming weeks, and as the rebellion gathers pace, we expect many more to join us in showing integrity against what are, frankly, bully boy tactics from local authorities minister Eric Pickles.
“Local authorities have a duty of care to their vulnerable local residents, not to the Coalition government’s policies. The best way local authorities can protect themselves is to be brave, stand up to Mr Pickles and choose financial common sense. So we call on all remaining local authorities to join us, protect your residents’ future and take up the rebel cause.”
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