Popular Alliance Staffordshire - www.popularalliancestaffs.org

Popular Alliance Staffordshire - www.popularalliancestaffs.org | sitemap | log in

This is a free Spanglefish 1 website.

Staffordshire Taxes & Rates

Popular Alliance leader, Councillor Brian Buxton recently had this letter published in the Burton Mail.....

Dear Sir,

Further to your recent articles and letters relating to the publication of ESBC Council Tax rates for 2009/10, I would like to highlight how Staffordshire County Council and ESBC have differed in their approach.

According to Councillor Grosvenor (Burton Mail February 6th), ESBC set the rates 12 months ago, since when, as we all know, there has been a huge change in the economic environment.  Since originally publishing their rates, Staffordshire County Council has managed to shave their increase from 3.9% to 2.45% (the lowest Council Tax increase proposed by the authority for 14 years). Well done to them, for making savings and reducing the rates to reflect the difficult times in which we find ourselves. However, ESBC has only managed to shave 0.4% off its rate increase, and Councillor Grosvenor is now trying to defend the indefensible by stating that the Council Tax rise is 'justified'.

He does this by highlighting the Council's 'achievements'. He states that there have been significant savings over 12 months, but doesn't tell us the level of the savings, and where they have been made. He also states that improvements have been made – to the car parks (what improvements, and how much have they cost?), by the introduction of the alternate weekly bin collection (this may be an improvement for the Council, but not necessarily for many householders!) and by the provision of the Customer Service Centre in Uttoxeter (is this really a high priority in the current economic climate?).

Now let us look at the areas where the Council has actually wasted our money, rather than saving it.

It has borne a £5,000,000 loss on investments in Iceland (despite Councillor Grosvenor's optimism, what chance do we really have of getting this money back, given that Iceland as a country is now virtually bankrupt?).

It has allowed the Leisure Centre to run down, on the expectation of a deal with Tesco which has subsequently fallen through, and now needs to spend £5m to update the building. Is this a wise investment due to the Centre's age, or merely a quick fix to get the Council 'out of a hole' ?

ESBC spent £20,000 on consultant fees when appointing Jeanette McGarry as Chief Executive 18 months ago, and then, after only 9 month's service, £121,000 was spent to get rid of her.

Staffordshire County Council has shown that a significant reduction in the planned increase can be made, so, the question is, has ESBC really done all it can to keep the Council tax increase to a minimum, or are we having to pay for its mismanagement and inefficiency ?

Stretton Parish Council have lowered their annual precept and challenged the East Staffs Borough Council to do likewise. Although not initially proposed by the Popular Alliance guys, we immediately threw our support behind this motion as we feel it falls in line with our smaller government and lower public spending policies. We realise that this move will not, on its own, make a big saving for local rates payers, but we hope that other Councils follow our example and do likewise.

County Expenditure Information to be advertised

Staffs County Council will today launch a series of advertisements to show exactly what our rates are spent on. This will include billboard advertising, events and roadshows.

Council leader John Taylor considers that many people are too quick to criticise them, without knowing just how much it costs to maintain 3,500 miles of roads, 400 schools with 123,00 pupils, 2,000 hectares of countryside, etc.

Mr Taylor also hopes that such information will also help more people learn of further services that they can take advantage of. The publicty drive is planned for one year.

Certainly in Stretton near Burton on Trent, where Popular Alliance has 2 councillors, we believe that some areas in the county that contribute higher levels of rates, do not receive parity compared to the amount of funding used to maintain services and roads in areas where higher percentages of residents are out of work or exempt of paying rates.

Certainly, if the cowboy standard of road works so far demonstrated by County Council contractors Clancy Docwra is anything to go by, perhaps the Council should spend just a little more time researching just who benefits from our rates.

Leader defends county tax rise

By Sarah Marshall - Staffordshire Newsletter

A COUNCIL tax hike of four per cent is set to be agreed by Staffordshire County Council today, despite opposition councillors claiming they could almost cut it in half.

The controlling Labour group is due to put forward its budget for 2008 to 2009 at a full council meeting this morning.

And its council tax increase means householders in an average band D property would face a monthly bill of £985.44, up from £947.54.

But Tory opposition members are also planning to put forward a revised budget which will be revealed at the meeting in a bid to get the controlling council to have a re-think.

They say a change in the budget would mean a council tax increase of 2.5 per cent and their budget tweaks would provide extra cash to repair roads, raise attainment in schools and invest in community safety.

Councillor Ian Parry, deputy leader and finance spokesman for the Conservative group, said: "We will propose a relatively small adjustment to the Labour council's budget, which will have a major impact on the level of council tax increase, as well as saving additional cash."

But council leader John Taylor says the council's budget will allow the authority to deliver better services and meet their priorities, while keeping council tax low.

The authority has been facing a turbulent time with the closure of care homes, proposed farm sell-offs and job evaluation but has been given a 6.9 per cent increase in its annual Government grant, which helps to pay for the services it provides.

Councillor Taylor said: "We want to provide value for money and the £22 million pounds worth of savings that we have found for next year proves we are passionate about doing more for less.

Tory-controlled Stafford Borough Council has already agreed a 3.9 per cent hike for its portion of the council tax bill but struggled to keep it at that level following an increase of just one per cent in its Government grant.

Earlier this week Staffordshire Police Authority agreed a 3.75 per cent rise in its precept and the fire authority is due to finalise a 4.9 per cent increase in its precept on Monday.

Secret merger talks revealed

EXCLUSIVE By Gail Atkinson - Stafford Newsletter

FRONTLINE council services in Stafford could be shared with another authority in the future, Stafford's leader has warned.

The Newsletter has learned Stafford Borough Council is in talks with Lichfield District Council with a view to sharing backroom functions such as IT and legal services. However, Judith Dalgarno said collaboration on frontline services which include waste collection, planning and leisure, was a possibility in the future.

There is already an agreement between the two councils for Stafford to take over Lichfield's payroll, it emerged yesterday.

Councillor Dalgarno announced earlier this month that the authority was talking to a second unnamed council in addition to Cannock Chase District Council with a view to sharing backroom services.

But yesterday, Councillor Dalgarno admitted frontline functions could also be merged at some point.

"We are not ruling it out, but we are not ruling it in at the moment. We could see possible collaboration in the future."

Lichfield councillor Matthew Ellis has been spearheading the merger work for his authority. He said: "Work has been going on for a year and I think cabinet is due to make a final decision in about a month's time.

"I don't think any service is immune under the current financial situation. We (all local authorities) will be actively looking at ways to run councils more efficiently in the way we do things, and yes, that includes looking where we can share services, even frontline services."

The Newsletter has also learned the authority has abandoned its recruitment process for a new chief executive after deciding to promote from within. But the move has sparked outrage and been dubbed a "political appointment".

Current executive director for community services Ian Thompson - formerly a director with Lichfield - will take over from retiring chief executive David Rawlings. Malcolm Vickers, executive director for corporate services, takes on the new role of deputy chief executive. Both will be employed on performance-based four-year contracts but their current roles will not be filled, saving a total of £71,000 this year and £85,000 in a full year.

Mr Thompson was one of six applicants short-listed for interview for the advertised £102,000 job but the recruitment process was halted to allow for merger talks.

The appointments were announced yesterday by Councillor Dalgarno, but furious opposition leaders have pledged to fight the proposals when they go before the authority's full council next Thursday for approval.

Labour leader Jack Kemp said: "Normal circumstances are that the chief executive of the borough council is selected by an all-party committee. This appointment has been made by a political group. We are horrified."

Liberal democrat leader Barry Stamp said: "I am just appalled that such a senior post has been made by a political party. We have never had political appointments in the council before. This should be a whole council appointment."

The appointments are due to take effect from June 1.

Mr Vickers will have responsibility for overseeing the sharing of services with other authorities.

Mr Rawlings will retire on May 31.

Council saves but increases your tax

By ANDY PARKER - Burton Mail

COUNTY TAX DEMAND UP 4PC

31 January 2008 By Sarah Marshall - Stafford Newsletter

STRUGGLING Stafford Borough Council has agreed a 3.9 per cent council tax hike for its portion of the bill.

Tory council leaders said this week they were determined to keep their promise to residents and keep any increases below the rate of inflation.

The cash-strapped authority had been struggling to balance the books because of the lack of government grant being awarded for the next financial year. Councils rely on the money to provide services and pay staff salaries but this year's increase is just one per cent, which is below inflation.

The authority is being forced to hike up charges, including at car parks, leisure centres and for burial services to cover costs.

Earlier this month, members admitted they were struggling to plug a £310,000 gap in the budget but at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, councillors said they had managed to fill the hole.

The council tax increase means an average band D property will pay £144.32 for the borough council section of the bill from April. It marks a rise of £5.42 on last year's total but the the final figures will rise further when Staffordshire County Council, the police and the fire service, as well as parish councils in some areas, add in their portions.

The increase is below the headline rate of RPI (Retail Price Index) inflation, which stands at four per cent, but is above the CPI (Consumer Price Index) rate of inflation of 2.1 per cent, which is usually used by the Bank of England.

Council leader Judith Dalgarno said: "Nationally, 25 per cent of councils are having to raise charges. People do not like it when we put them up but it appears we are not on our own. Many councils are having to adopt this method of finance to balance the budget.

"The increase in our grant from the government amounts to around £34,000. That does not even cover the increases in our electricity bills."

They should not take us for granted

Letter from DJ Clarke of Branston in Burton Mail

AFTER reading the article in the Burton Mail on Tuesday, January 22, concerning possible higher Council Tax bills, I felt I had to write on behalf of everyone who are doing their best to recycle waste.

Year after year we are hit with inflation-busting Council Tax bills.

We already have to pay extra to make up the shortfall caused by shirkers who refuse to pay, because its easier to get the money from the people who are regular payers, rather than spend money chasing the non-payers - which is totally unfair.

Now I read that if more people do not recycle more and cut down on waste put in thier bins, the council is going to put everyones bill up to meet the extra costs for landfill. What next?

As a taxpayer I have never missed one payment since Council Tax was introduced and as far as recycling goes, my wife spends a great deal of her time washing glass and plastic containers, sorting cans, jars etc.

So come on, let's find a fairer way of council taxation because if honest, hard working people are going to be penalised for the ones who can't be bothered to pay or recycle, we might just decide to join them .

People won't stand for much more of these unfair money grabbing methods that councils seem to be so determined to implement.

Labour's budget balances but at what cost to us?

From Philip Atkins, Conservative County Councillor, Uttoxeter Rural County Councillor

You are indeed honoured to grace our pages kind Sir !! You speak good sense.

LOCAL Government finance is so complicated even the experts find it difficult to understand, so it is easy to see why Labour's deputy county leader Robert Simpson fools himself into thinking the county is not cash strapped, but can I open his eyes to his Labour myths?

Yes the figures in his medium term financial strategy balance; it is how it is achieved that is the meat in the sandwich. Like anyone who has had an 11-year spending spree Labour eventually has finally had to settle their debts, and to do this they have had to do a number of things.

After 26 years in control Labour have at last made staff accountable for their own budgets which has thrown up £22 million in savings, and about time too we all might say.

There are numerous other questions arising out of this budget such as the £19 million cost of care home redundancies coming after the £19 million investment in the Changing Lives social care programme - surely not a coincidence.

And what about the extra £9.4 million in back pay snuck in under pay modernisation to be given to those who have left the authority's employment within the last year which in total makes the cost of pay modernisation a whopping £94.6 million. Or to put it into simpler terms over £110 for every man, woman and child in Staffordshire.

I could go on - for example: how about the sale of £60 million of property assets over the next three years, the year on year as yet unfound future savings of £22.2 million, £12.5 million and £20 million needed to balance the books each year, or this year's generous Labour government settlement of 7.4 per cent which has given the county council a temporary life belt to ease their crisis position.

Yes and they are raiding reserves of £9.6 million yet again, even after finding £2 million in an annual budget put on one side to fund new office accommodation in Stafford.

The future job losses to pay for the funding gap in pay modernisation and the consequent loss of service delivery are buried in a jargon filled paragraph; the list goes on and on.

These are not myths but Labour's own figures which clearly demonstrate Labour's weak political leadership, poor performance management and bad budgetary control.

Yes the budget balances, but at what cost?

STAFFORDSHIRE County Council says it has made more than £1million of "cashable savings" in the current financial year - but has still increased Council Tax by almost twice the rate of inflation.

In a statement issued following a full meeting of the authority in Stafford, the authority's Labour chairman, Terry Dix, said the council had "demonstrated its commitment to providing value for money for Staffordshire's council tax payers."

Councillor Dix said 80 per cent of the £1 million "cashable savings" would be reallocated into other areas for investment.

He said this showed the county council was making "big savings" on the way it worked by negotiating better deals and getting more for council tax payers' money in the way it bought in its good and services. A further £1.3 million of non cashable savings had also been delivered, meaning that "through the procurement process (the council has) managed to defend the council against possible price increases."

Councillor Dix said: "Since we increased our emphasis on strategic procurement in 2004 we have identified £9 million worth of them, £4.5 million of which are cashable. We have done this by improving the way we buy in things and utilising technology including reverse auctions and taking advantage of market opportunities such as de-regulation of post."

The statement then confirmed that the council had agreed a four per cent increase in council tax.

Despite this being almost twice the current rate of inflation of 2.2 per cent the council's statement hailed the increase as "the lowest since 1995."

"It means a rise of £37.90, that's 73p a week for a Band D property," the statement said.

Council Leader John Taylor said: "Excellence in financial planning and management is vital to achieving sustainable improvements in services. Our aim was to set a good and balanced budget and I believe the budget presented today meets that aim. It has been shaped in the light of consultation feedback and I'd like to thank those people who took part in the consultation exercises, which proved to be very valuable.

"We also want to keep council tax increases as low as possible and that means being more efficient so we can unlock the resources and use some of it to fund better services."

In the past year the council has announced the huighly controversial closure of old folks' care homes across the county, including two in Burton, plans to sell of authority-owner farms and smallholdings and a fiercely opposed "job evaluation" of staff, threatening to reduce the salaries of hundreds of workers.