WIRRAL Council has come under fire after admitting it will not fully pass on the VAT reduction introduced by the Chancellor at the start of this month – helping it to keep an extra £110,000.

The council decided it would be uneconomic to make widespread reductions and instead introduced a “free after 3” parking scheme across the borough on Thursdays in the run-up to Christmas.

Facilities in the borough such as leisure centres – which have VAT in the price – will not change the prices they charge.

Other Merseyside authorities have said they are taking a variety of measures to pass on the reduced VAT level to customers.

A spokesman for Liverpool City Council said they had also introduced a free parking scheme on Thursdays ahead of Christmas as a way of passing on the VAT reduction to motorists, because of the difficulties in changing parking meters. But he said: “As a general rule, we are passing [the VAT reduction] on in things like leisure charges, sports centres and those types of facilities.”

And, in Ellesmere Port and Neston, a council spokesman said VAT reductions had already been posted on their website and they would be passing them on “where practical” – the main exception being parking where the reduct- ion could be as little as a penny.

Knowsley Council said it had not yet decided how it plans to pass on the VAT reduction, but a decision will be made very soon.

The 2.5% cut in VAT – which the Government hopes will provide a boost to the ailing UK economy – came into force last Monday, December 1.

A number of major retailers, including the big supermarkets, had already passed on the reduction in the sales tax to customers.

Chancellor Alistair Darling announced in the Pre-Budget Report that the Government was reducing the rate of VAT for 13 months in a bid to help stimulate the economy.