Council tax will rise as bosses keep £5m back for emergencies
Peter Devine
March 04, 2009
STOCKPORT Council is to push council tax up by an inflation busting 4.25 per cent.
As Stopfordians face the risk of job losses, pay freezes and a savings crisis and with ‘stagflation’ looming, the local authority will push up council band D bills from the 2008/2009 figure of £1,440.84 to £1,505.71 in 2009/2010.
However, concerns have been raised from opposition councillors about the authority squirreling away £5m into a special contingency fund in case the economic downturn gets much worse.
The latest bills when they hit the doormats will also include Greater Manchester Police and Fire precept rises of 4.5 per cent. And Band D properties in the Offerton Park Parish area will include an extra precept of £6.
During the debate at last week’s meeting of the full council Councillor John Pantall, the executive member for finance, explained: "The council budget will include a separate inflation fund amounting to 2.3 per cent of the authority’s net expenditure - a sum of over £5m.
"This money will only be allocated when there is clear evidence of inflationary pressures on service provision.
"The main core budget is based on continuing to provide the public with the necessary services, linked to changing needs. We do this with efficiency and at a lower cost than elsewhere in Greater Manchester."
Councillor Les Jones, the leader of Stockport Tory group said: "Like budget meetings for the past few years, one theme was constantly offered by the Liberal-Democrats - ‘It isn’t our fault’. Mind you, it is everybody else’s fault, yet they have controlled Stockport Council for the last ten years, so, yes, their failure to manage in previous years has contributed largely to the current situation.
"What is conspicuous about Stockport’s new budget is the absence of any specific investment or spending proposals. I assume that they didn’t expect the opposition groups to notice there is over £5m of unallocated resources, yet, they have not brought any proposals forward to deal with that money."
Councillor Peter Scott, the Labour group leader said: "This year, despite massive increases in Government funding, the council tax bill will be over £1,500, the third highest rate in Greater Manchester.
"There was no acknowledgement that more needs to be done to deal with the gross inequalities between the richest and poorest parts of the borough, or any suggestion that resources need to be directed where they are most needed. Instead, money will continue to be spent where it always has been, in the most prosperous parts of Stockport, while the north of the borough will continue to be without the kind of basic facilities that most people take for granted."
Council Tax charges for 2009-10
Council area Offerton Park Parish
Band A £1,003.81 Band A £1,047.56
Band B £1,171.09 Band B £1,222.14
Band C £1,338.39 Band C £1,396.73
Band D £1,505.71 Band D £1,571.34
Band E £1,840.32 Band E £1,920.53
Band F £2,174.90 Band F £2,269.71
Band G £2,509.52 Band G £2,618.90
Band H £3,011.41 Band H £3,142.67
from Stockport express online