Published: Wednesday, 24th February, 2010 12:05am
Council tax rise after Tories miss vote
by Adam Hewitt
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COUNCIL tax will go up by 2.2% in Reading from April after the ruling Labour group's budget was passed - while the Tories were out of the room.
During a four-hour negotiation session tonight (Tuesday) in which the three main parties were completely deadlocked, only Labour put forward a budget, which included extra money to cope with booming demand for social services but also savings across all departments.
The opposition Tories rejected this, pledging a council tax freeze which they said was the right thing to do with so many people struggling to make ends meet in the town.
The meeting was adjourned multiple times so the parties could make a deal, since setting a budget is a legal requirement, but the Tories were late back from the third adjournment and so missed the vital vote where Labour voted to approve its budget. The Lib Dems voted against but the vote was carried, 19 to eight.
Chairing the meeting of the full council was Cllr Fred Pugh, the borough's Conservative mayor, who announced that the reconvened meeting was quorate and the vote legitimate, since the time to be back had been set in advance.
In a follow-up vote to set the council tax for the year, after more debate the Tories and Lib Dems abstained, with Tory leader Andrew Cumpsty invoking councillors' "civic responsibility" to get a budget passed and council tax set but making clear his displeasure that the vote went ahead while his group were in talks in another room.
He said: "People in this chamber knew we were working behind the scenes in order to deliver a 0% increase. It's deeply regrettable that the increase was pushed through."
Council leader and Labour group leader Cllr Jo Lovelock rejected that, saying: "We were back in here at the right time, the vote was taken properly."
She said finding another £1.4m in savings from the budget to afford a council tax freeze was impossible without hitting frontline services, adding: "This budget achieves the right balance in uncertain times."
Lib Dem leader Kirsten Bayes, who had been in talks with the Tories but failed to reach agreement, according to Cllr Cumpsty, said she was unhappy with the council tax increase but also that the Conservatives had not come up with any budget proposals for people in the town to examine and make a decision on.
She added that Cllr Cumpsty was wrong to say the budget vote had been "pushed through".
She said: "The mayor was in the room and the meeting was quorate. You have to respect the democratic and legal procedures of the council."
The meeting ended at 11.40pm.
For more on the council tax rise and how it will affect you, see Thursday's Reading Chronicle.
