George Osborne extends council tax freeze
 

Some good news :)

Can you make it 2015 please George?

Then perhaps I can save some money or not as the case may be.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15145083

Re: George Osborne extends council tax freeze
 

Everything is a cut from somewhere else unless there's a tax rise or surplus to fund it.

Re: George Osborne extends council tax freeze
 

Way I see it madness really it surely has to go up with inflation to just maintain current standards. You can freeze forever else we end up one staff member who goto do everything.(lol) No seriously how many years its been frozen know then these stupid cuts ontop which hitting sevices instead getting the rats on the top sensible wages.

Lets not forget some councils created new job of manager who oversees the cuts at stupid wages.

I am all for tightening wastage but services should not be cut or ground staff lose there jobs if those jobs would effect quality/services.

Should streamlined management first/wastage even would argue that instead sacking some MP'S they should consider the bloated councillors. Bring there wages down.

Re: George Osborne extends council tax freeze
 

Well said.

Most people may not realise just how much they are losing in public services, which in a worst case scenario could, and probably will cost lives.

Take a look at the cuts in emergency services. Less firefighters/firestations, less ambulance crews in an already overstretched service. Less police and support staff, leading to more unsolved (or in many cases uninvestigated) crimes. And probably an increase in crime.

Then you have to look at cuts in social services, leaving the more vunerable members of the community without help. Cuts in education meaning that our childrens future could suffer. The list goes on and on.

Then the government tell us that they are changing public sector pensions to save money. When in fact if only 7% leave the scheme (because it won't be worth staying in it), then it will actually cost the tax payer more money.

So I wonder how many people wouldn't mind an inflation rise, just to maintain the level of services we have now.

Re: George Osborne extends council tax freeze
 

If you guys believe our current public spending at a shade over 50% of the entire national output is insufficient I'd write to your MP.

Re: George Osborne extends council tax freeze
 

All the councils will do is


Move to fortnightly bin collections like my council is intending to do
Increase parking fines
Charge for using the waste site just like my council wants to
Increase the cost of large item collections


They have many options that you can bet they are already crunching the numbers on to find the increases they need. All this while reducing what they have to spend it on but ensuring that there heads of dept salaries are maintained or increased. Councils are a law unto themselves :)

Re: George Osborne extends council tax freeze
 

Most councils have already done all the things you mention. The cuts actually go far deeper than that as I mentioned earlier.

Re: George Osborne extends council tax freeze
 

Our council is the largest employer in the city, so using up skilled people who could be outside the coddled council environment making, or doing, something which actually brings in ££££ to the country.

Re: George Osborne extends council tax freeze
 

It's debatable whether all the council officers with words like 'access' and 'facilitation' in their non-job titles actually have any skills that might bring ££££ to anywhere.

If I were a betting man I'd put money on the suggestion that most of these people went to a third-rate 'university' and got a BA in a subject with the word 'studies' in it.

Re: George Osborne extends council tax freeze
 

Are you trying to get a bite out of that comment???

Re: George Osborne extends council tax freeze
 

Yes councils are a law to themselves.

Re: George Osborne extends council tax freeze
 

No, they're not - they get over half their income from Central Government, so are fairly tightly controlled.

(That's the problem using tabloid-style soundbites - they frequently don't reflect reality.....).

Re: George Osborne extends council tax freeze
 

However it is easy for them to increase again, for instance parking fines only impact those breaking the law they will say, charging to use the waste site will impact many especially at Christmas when you have a large increase in rubbish. Warrington BC generally will not take extra bags at this time as it is against health and safety of the bin men as they have to handle bin bags that might have glass in them. So those taking them to the tip could have a fee to pay :rolleyes:

Re: George Osborne extends council tax freeze
 

The few things you mention wouldn't go anywhere near the millions of pounds they have to save. Which is why they are making huge cuts in public services.

Re: George Osborne extends council tax freeze
 

It won't harm those councils that are in the most deprived areas especially as they received only a fraction of their income from council tax anyway, being mostly reliant on central government grants, or if you prefer tax payers elsewhere, for their local spending.