Wirral Council votes for 1.67% increase in tax bills

Mar 3 2010 by Liam Murphy, Heswall News

WIRRAL’S Labour and Liberal Democrat-led administration voted through its budget on Monday over Conservative plans for no increase in tax rates.

The decision will see a 1.67% rise in council tax bills from April – less than 50p a week for most people.

Council leader Steve Foulkes said the current economic forecast meant he did not think “this is the year to go for zero”.

He accused the Conservatives of copying their budget plans for 2010-11 and then presenting an alternative which was “a hollow empty shell of a promise”.

But Conservative leader Jeff Green said the Tory budget proposal “offers a change of direction” from a “two-star council – even worse than Liverpool”.

He described the leaders of the Labour-Lib Dem alliance as “the Butch and Sundance Kid of Wirral politics”, to which Cllr Foulkes later retorted: “The cowboy outfit is on that side of the chamber.”

The tax rise will mean Band A to D properties – which include around 90% of Wirral homes – will see their bills rise in 2010-11 by between 31p and 46p a week, with the rise totalling 1.67%, compared with the 4.4% rise in bills last year.

Council tax for an average Band D home will rise £24.04 to £1,464.20, with Band As paying £976.14 and Band H properties seeing a rise to £2,928.40 when police and fire service contributions are included.

There will also be an increase in the new apprenticeship scheme, a freeze in car parking charges, more funding for schools, care for the elderly to help them stay in their homes and extra cash to tackle underage drinking.

The Tories had pledged to make dramatic cuts in council public relations and marketing, slash council senior management and massively increase the amount of consultation carried out by the authority.

Their other plans included cutting councillors’ allowances and reducing free food for both councillors and officers.

Lib-Dem leader Simon Holbrook said the council had to “make difficult decisions to bring spending under control and improve efficiency”.

He added: “The benefits of these measures are now being felt. The remarkable thing about this budget is not that the council tax rise is only 1.67%, it is we are able to invest in these wonderful schemes and still keep council tax so low.”