George Osborne extends council tax freeze

02-10-2011, 21:28

Some good news

Quote:

A council tax freeze in England will be extended to 2012/13 under plans to be unveiled by the chancellor on Monday.
The Â£805m move will be paid for by a Whitehall "underspend", aides said.
The government cannot force councils to freeze bills - but it is offering to give those which limit spending rises to 2.5% the money they need.

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

Ignitionnet · 03-10-2011, 09:59

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

mertle · 03-10-2011, 10:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

Well at least it's one election pledge that's being honoured. However welcome it is, it's being financed from central funds so that's more of a cut somewhere else.

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.

Tim Deegan · 03-10-2011, 11:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by mertle

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.

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.

Ignitionnet · 03-10-2011, 13:57

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.

Sirius · 03-10-2011, 15:10

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

Tim Deegan · 03-10-2011, 15:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sirius

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

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

Taf · 03-10-2011, 16:07

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 Â£Â£Â£Â£ to the country.

**Chris** · 03-10-2011, 16:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taf

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 Â£Â£Â£Â£ to the country.

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 Â£Â£Â£Â£ 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.

Tim Deegan · 03-10-2011, 16:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taf

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 Â£Â£Â£Â£ to the country.

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

denphone · 04-10-2011, 05:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sirius

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

Yes councils are a law to themselves.

**Hugh** · 04-10-2011, 06:43

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.....).

Sirius · 04-10-2011, 11:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim Deegan

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

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

Tim Deegan · 05-10-2011, 08:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sirius

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

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.

Ignitionnet · 05-10-2011, 11:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ignitionnet

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.

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.