Wirral council tax rises by 3.5%

Feb 22 2008 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

COUNCIL tax in Wirral will rise by 3.5% next year, after the budget was approved by the authority’s cabinet last night.

Council leader Steve Foulkes also outlined a range of initiatives costing around £1m.

These range from doubling the 1% council tax rebate for over-75s to ambitious new schemes to tackle dog-fouling, extend local forum groups with extra spending power in the You Decide scheme, more cash for allotments and a zero tolerance for graffiti with clean-up squads set up.

Cllr Foulkes said he was proud of the budget, lower than last year's 4.1% increase, which was developed between his Labour group and the Liberal Democrats.

Last night, he also denied Conservative leader Jeff Green a chance to speak to the cabinet meeting, saying: “It’s our night, not yours”.

In an impromptu press conference on the steps of the town hall afterwards, Cllr Green said £13.5m in cuts and a 3.5% council tax rise imminent “showed we are being asked to pay more for less”.

He added: “It’s not only the council tax rise, just look at charges for other services being raised across the council. It’s a double whammy.”

He also dismissed accusations by Cllr Foulkes that the Tories had not made any effort to contribute to the budget setting saying Labour and the Lib-Dems had held their budget meetings with officers “behind closed doors”.

But the night had been the joint administrations’ with a series of announcements for new initiatives and an extra £8.9m for education in Wirral.

Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Cllr Simon Holbrook, paid tribute to the Labour group who he said had made “difficult decisions over the last 10 months” and lobbied the Government for an improved settlement which had helped deliver a stable budget.

Cllr Holbrook said: “The Conservatives have opposed over £10m of the savings through the year.”

Earlier, he had said if Tory opposition to the cuts had been heeded it would have meant a council tax rise of 13%.

The budget, which had assumed a 4% increase for the fire authority and 5% for the police, would see a Band D property council tax rise from £1,329.94 to £1,387.64 next year, 2008-9, and the highest band, H, would increase from £2,659.98 to £2,757.28.

However, Cllr Foulkes said Wirral was unusual in having around 90% of properties in the Bands A and B, meaning the rises would go from £886.83 to £919.09 and £1,034.40 to £1,072.28.

He said the increase would help pay for initiatives such as free swimming schemes for the young and elderly, weekend clean-ups of play areas, literacy schemes, and access to the borough’s open spaces.

liammurphy