Reading set for council tax freeze

Alex Gore • Published 14 Nov 2011 18:00 6 Comments

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READING'S council tax is set to be frozen for the second year running.

The Department for Communities and Local Government announced today that Reading Borough Council will receive £1.735m if it freezes council tax in 2012-13.

The handout is the same as that given to the local authority in return for a freeze in the current financial year and is equivalent to a rise of nearly 3%.

Council leader Jo Lovelock said it would be stupid not to take the Government up on its offer but stressed overall funding for the town will continue to fall.

Cllr Lovelock confirmed the Labour administration will include the freeze in its budget when it comes before the council in February, and added: "It is good for residents but it has got to be put into context that the council's overall budget will have seen a huge net reduction by the end of 2013.

"The Government talks a lot about local decision making and localism but they are actually dictating this very much from the centre and not giving us any local flexibility."

Cllr Lovelock highlighted how Reading lost around £9m in Government grants for 2011-12 and will lose a further £14.5m in 2012-13, compared to 2010-11.

She added: "The only offsetting has been this council tax freeze money. We keep working on efficiency savings and all these things that you would expect but it makes it more and more difficult, with fewer and fewer staff having to do more and more to make up for these sort of funding gaps."

The Labour leader also accused the Coalition Government of penalising Reading at the expense of more "affluent" boroughs.

Neighbouring Wokingham saw its 2011-12 funding cut by the equivalent of £4 per head - compared to £40 per head in Reading.

Lib Dem leader Cllr Daisy Benson, describing the handout as "welcome news for hard pressed residents", added: "Council tax rises hit people on low and fixed incomes disproportionately."

This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 14 Nov 11

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Conky Joe
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Nov 14, 19:41
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Considering the third world slum Reading has become (not to mention the steady decline in public services) they could hardly ask for more wonga now could they? Well clearly they could but that would be adding serious insult to injury...

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Mischievous
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Nov 14, 20:00
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I recall that the sums of money Reading lost from their budgets in 2010/11 was handed back by the government as funds for the station infrastructure work. It appears to be the same this year because Rob Wilson pressed for more money for the station and got it, and the town's budget is down again. Wish Reading was a bank!

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L E V I A T H A N
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Nov 14, 22:36
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"Council tax rises hit people on low and fixed incomes disproportionately."

Steady there Dipsy, you are clearly going against the ideals of your Tory masters little lapdog. We don't want another Liberal toys out of cot fracus à la Gareth Ineptitude...

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Knony Tott
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Nov 17, 12:02
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Another great moment for our epic Labour Council. I'm salivating at the sight of Tony Page while WATCHing from my PC.

Has Daisy Benson fallen in love with him too?

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******
Nov 17, 12:32
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Hell No
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Nov 18, 12:28
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It is nice to see them give a little back whilst bleeding us dry in every other respect. Despite a dislike of the coalition it is quite sickening to see Labour bemoaning monetary issues when they were throwing money around (OK away) like it was confetti. Not to mention their immigration policies (OK lack of) could single handedly be held accountable for the current state of the UK job market. And that dear readers is the current state of politics; a Hobson's choice by all accounts. The last lot were clearly (and still are at local level) rubbish and the new lot don't seem to be grasping the reigns hard enough. 'What a mess' is the only sane summary...

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Howard Thomas
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Nov 21, 18:37
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This special grant is the same as the one that the coalition RBC received last year in order to have a zero 'rise' in council tax. To raise the tax by more than something like 3.5% would incur capping .

So it was a 'no-brainer ' for the coalition , just as it is now for the Labour administration.

No rise in council tax is the government policy and they intend to see this particular policy happen.(there had to be one I suppose)

Daisy , oh Daisy, why beat about the bush with your comments especially when your party would like to replace council tax with a fair tax. Its not just the rise that is unfair, but the whole bloody system. Council tax is a 'regressive' tax that means that the lower a household's income , the greater the percentage of that lower income has to be used to pay the tax. Council tax should be replaced by collecting the equivalent amount on national income tax where the collection system exists. All councils spend a fortune on collecting this tax and administering the council tax benefit system which exists purely to assist those that simply can't afford to pay the tax charged to them because of the property they live in !

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******
Nov 21, 20:21
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******
Jan 22, 16:13
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