Council Tax - Scrap it, not Cap it

3.05.37pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 28th Mar 2006

Crawley Councillor Linda Seekings and Andrew Stunell MP at a recent Lib Dem Conference

Andrew Stunell MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (who has responsibility for Council Tax) said after the government statement on Council Tax "Another year, another council tax rise. Council Tax continues to soar under Labour, and it's clear they haven't got a clue what to do about it."

"Tinkering with capping will do nothing to help the millions of pensioners and hard working families who struggle to pay their ever-increasing bills. Gordon Brown has abandoned pensioners this year, refusing to repeat his pre-election bribe of a £200 rebate. It will be the first time pensioners' bills have risen since they took to the streets more than two years ago. Council Tax is deeply unfair, and it's time to scrap it, not cap it."

Council Tax bills in England will rise by an average of 4.5% this year - more than twice the level of inflation - according to government figures. The increase means the average council tax per home will be £1,056, up from £1,009 last year. Ministers have announced they will use powers to limit council tax rises in two Council areas. However one of them, the City of York Council, has the 10th lowest council tax level of the 352 billing authorities; it also has the lowest spend per head of any council in the country. The band D council tax increase there this year was due to be £49, taking it to £1,174 including police and fire precepts.

The cost of re-billing everybody will be £120,000

It does not make economic sense to reduce the Council expenditure by £280,000 as required in this Council's case as although it will mean the average council tax bills would be reduced by 7p per week the cost of re-billing everybody will cost £120,000!