Council f**king tax

[tinkerbellax]

So my council tax has been put up yet again. This is a bill that as a single parent, cripples me.

My bins now get emptied every couple of weeks.
My library has been closed
Today in my local paper it has been announced that extra funding for SEN children has been cut!

Wibu if I fight crime myself and empty my own fucking bin?

Justanotherluker yep councils are bent. Ours is corrupt as fuck - selling off assets for a song to their mates, fucking around trying to screw people over on every single development project they do so they all go massively over budget, backhanders all over the shop ... damn right I resent giving them money.

maybe I'm thinking too simplistically here

Yes you are, it's a devolved issue essentially so that the money isn't directly sucked into the south east.

If your this politically charged that you think voting in a labour government is going to ever reduce council tax or even reduce many of the cuts already made then I have a bridge to sell

I said don't vote Tories, I didn't say vote labour.

Simply put you can't vote for the party of austerity and complain about closure of libraries/reduction of bin collections etc. Its interesting that people think my opinion is some kind of party political broadcast when it's simply common sense

Human waste? Do you shit in your wheelie bin? They don't handle it anyway - just hook a bin onto the lifting mechanism.

Our area is like this and is a labour led council. I hate it and can't wait to vote the tossers out.

HaroldsSoCalledBluetits

Waste that humans have produced then. Come on!

anotherlurker I see where you're coming from but the system now means that people in the north / more deprived areas of lower wages are paying proportionally a hell of a lot more anyway than people in more affluent areas and the SE gets a shed more funding anyway. making it purely income based would surely make it "fairer"

Do you live in a poor area op?

The reason I ask is because there was a change in how council tax is organised a while ago. Central gov used the distribute CT the Tories (of course) changed the rules so that council keep and control more of the money they collect. For most of the middle income councils this meant not much change, however the richer councils, with wealthy high tax paying residents and business had more money, because the kept the money they raised. The poorest councils, with high unemployment collecting much smaller amounts of council tax, were a lot poorer because they were no longer subsidested by the rich areas.

Council tax pays for -

planning, transport, highways, police, fire, libraries, leisure and recreation (parks, swimming pools etc), rubbish collection and disposal, environmental health and trading standards

But, you’re absolutely right, £135 is a significant amount of money every month. I don’t pay much more and there are two of us.

Although I do think bin men and women deserve a decent wage, I couldn’t do what they do!

i agree tinker I was wondering how fruitcorner had made the leap to not voting conservative based on a labour government policy?

Fortnightly bin collections may have started under a Labour government, but the current funding crisis in local government is due in large part because of the Tories decision to axe the central government grant.

Harold No wheelie bins where my house is, so yes, they handle food waste, cat lit etc.

I think weekly food waste collection is a must to avoid maggots in the summer.

People blaming central government are looking in the wrong place. Councils are run so so differently and local policy differs to national policy. Years of labour have ruined this town, it's a crisis riddled shit hole full of people selling off every patch of land to the highest bidder without expanding the infrastructure. Our MP does their damndest to stand up to them but sadly different rules apply.

Know what we do with our extra waste? Take it round to the tip on a weekly basis like every other household in the town. How is that being green?

BumpowderSneezeonAndSnot

The council who lead it are not the council who decide the budget. The current government and the previous coalition have cut and cut council budgets. The council gets to manage the budget and some do better than others.

Just to prove I am not completely anti Tory we have a conservative council and we still have our libraries, bus service and fortnightly collections (for now) so i know they are at least trying. I dont agree with austerity and I believe austerity is to blame.

@tinkerbellax your parish Council sounds positively proactive! We have the largest council tax precept in our area and our town council just spends it on a two massive concerts a year where they pay x factor rejects to turn up and bleat at us. Oh and to cap it off because of these shitshows the town Council won't allow the park to have a designated public place order so the police can move on people who drink in the park, even though they've been told they can still have one off events where drink is allowed.

labour aren't exactly well known for their low taxes though, are they. So if people are struggling with council tax now, it's not going to get any better if labour get in

I remember the old rates and introduction of poll tax. Mansons on Bishops Avenue in London (known as billionaire row) when from paying £20,000 a year to about £195. Tories again.

"I don't have a huge objection to fortnightly. I think it has increased recycling and if a family of five can cope then it was probably a good policy"

It's fine for those who have an outside area. Very difficult for those who don't.

Most of the money councils have to spend doesn’t come from council tax. It comes from central government, which has cut funding to the bone. That’s why you’re paying more but getting less.

I said don't vote Tories, I didn't say vote labour.

Simply put you can't vote for the party of austerity and complain about closure of libraries/reduction of bin collections etc. Its interesting that people think my opinion is some kind of party political broadcast when it's simply common sense

So without the massive contradiction in your post, you seem to have no answer other than "muh evil tories".

You have ignored the local council shit show that has been going across party for decades, and somehow allude to the fact that if Labour was somehow in power council tax rises would not have been done or even more remarkable that if labour get in they would be reduced.

Own it that you just want to shit on the tories and not really offer any political insight or reasoning into the argument.

labour aren't exactly well known for their low taxes though, are they. So if people are struggling with council tax now, it's not going to get any better if labour get in

Maybe not the amount you pay but arguably the service you get for your money will improve. Labour do not agree with austerity and they won't be cutting bin collections or closing libraries.

They've cut budgets but the town councils themselves have got themselves into a huge mess. Our high street is now empty of shops because the council got greedy and raised rates to unaffordable levels. Local areas of historical interest are covered in graffiti and falling apart due to lack of investment. The town library has no books in to speak of, it's now a hub for the housing department to hold court. The local parks and green spaces are in ruin.

I could go on and on and on. All this and the council tax still rises...

"People blaming central government are looking in the wrong place. Councils are run so so differently"

It's also about the financial settlement they get from central government. Local councils are forced to make cuts whether they want to or not.

The waste and mismanagement under labour councils was a scandal for years. About time central government stopped the endless supply of money.

Our high street is now empty of shops because the council got greedy and raised rates to unaffordable levels.

Because business rates are the way that councils are expected to fund themselves now that the central government grant has been axed. A rock and a hard place springs to mind.

"the massive contradiction in your post"

What massive contradiction? It's not a contradiction to say not voting Tory means voting Labour. There are other parties, and independent candidates.