David Cameron in York council tax review plea

10:59am Thursday 1st November 2012 in News

THE Prime Minister urged City of York Council to review its decision to increase council tax, when the issue was raised at Westminster.

At Prime Minister’s Question Time yesterday, York Outer MP Julian Sturdy told David Cameron: “Unfortunately, Labour-run City of York council increased council tax by 2.9 per cent this year and has moved with remarkable speed to confirm a two per cent increase next year.”

He asked: “Does my right honourable friend agree that such a rise is apparently out of order and not in the interests of York constituents, and will he urge City of York council to look at this again?”

Mr Cameron said: “I will certainly join my honourable friend in doing that. The Government have made money available so that councils can freeze their council tax for a third year in a row. This is a very important way of demonstrating that we are on the side of people who want to work hard and get on and who struggle to pay the bills.”

City of York Council leader James Alexander said: “I have written to Julian requesting a public debate on his recent comments. Does he realise that spending commitments announced in The Press by his local party over the past year or so would have left York with £3.3m additional borrowing and either £3.8m increased cuts this year coming or a 5 per cent council tax hike?

Comments(20)

tobefair says...
11:25am Thu 1 Nov 12

The Water Lane/Clifton Green traffic debacle probably cost the LibDems the last election. Unwarrented rises in council tax will probably loose the York Labour party the next.

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Kevin Turvey says...
11:37am Thu 1 Nov 12

‘Mr Cameron said: “I will certainly join my honourable friend in doing that. The Government have made money available so that councils can freeze their council tax for a third year in a row’

So then James Alexander are you reading this?
The big boss says no! So do as he says.

If you ignore this instruction from the PM and continue to increase my council tax again YOU WILL BE VOTED OUT. Simple.

As an aside…
I think James Alexander should resign over this.

However he is not honorable in any way so he will stay put until thrown out either by his own party/voters or come the inevitable civil unrest/revolution in this country.

No doubt 'James the arrogant' will attempt to use his minor influence to get these comments removed…
we shall see.

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Elephant says...
12:18pm Thu 1 Nov 12

Tax and spend, tax and spend, tax and spend ... oh nothing left in the kitty ... tax, borrow and spend, tax, borrow and spend, tax, borrow and spend...

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Elephant says...
12:18pm Thu 1 Nov 12

Tax and spend, tax and spend, tax and spend ... oh nothing left in the kitty ... tax, borrow and spend, tax, borrow and spend, tax, borrow and spend...

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Pete the Brickie says...
12:41pm Thu 1 Nov 12



City of York Council leader James Alexander said: “I have written to Julian requesting a public debate on his recent comments. Does he realise that spending commitments announced in The Press by his local party over the past year or so would have left York with £3.3m additional borrowing and either £3.8m increased cuts this year coming or a 5 per cent council tax hike?



Yes but that's if you don't make any efficiency savings like you're supposed to be doing.

In my opinion if this council looked inwards, cut waste and obsene management salaries and made some real savings instead of culling carers and shutting popular local facilities in order to attempt to score cheap political points there would be no need to raise council tax at all.

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asd says...
1:49pm Thu 1 Nov 12

Its funny the Goverment critising local authorities when they are STILL borrrowing. Practice what you preach,and stop hammering US you cretins. Also fuel is to go up by 3p is this considered too by Goverment as vehicles use fuel last time i remember which local authorities use.Oh yeah heating too thats going up by 10% too was this also taken into account for public places?

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Gary Gilmores Eyes says...
2:15pm Thu 1 Nov 12

So predictably the man who cannot manage his own personal finances is now quite successfully mismanaging the York Public’s finances as ‘Leader’ of York Council through over spend and expecting us as council taxpayers to fund his delirium inducted ego trip.

Is he taking financial advice from the payday loan companies at 4200% APR?
I suspect the government cash is loaned at a lower rate.

Time for the Boy Wonder of financial disaster to be removed from public office so he can do no further damage to the public purse in this city and be replaced with somebody who understands the extremely basic concept of spending less than what you earn.

Bye Bye James…. Do not pass go and collect £200, straight off to Quidco for you!

I also think James Alexander should resign over this.

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York1900 says...
2:47pm Thu 1 Nov 12

Well YCC could take the 1% the government is offering to freeze the council tax but at the end of the day more council services would need to be cut and that would mean that when the government stops this offer

YCC of which ever party is in control would then after increase the council tax to cover the acquired short falls by this offer

Even North Yorkshire county council are looking if they can afford to take the government offer this year

York and North Yorkshire do no have a big enough population to get a good deal from the government offer
and with so many second homes means the council tax income is reduced any way

Energy prices are going up by 10%+
petrol and diesel up by 3% + what the government put on Fuel next April

We ither pay now or get a even bigger rise in the future

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GreenLantern says...
3:38pm Thu 1 Nov 12

Honestly some of the comments on this site make me despair at the intelligence of people in York.

Calling for Mr Alexander to resign for not taking money that for all intents and purposes is not real and instead basing his budget on Yorks actual services and incomes is actually madness.

I hope that the people calling for his head are simply bitter libdems and tories rather than actual voters because it would explain the nonsense they are spouting.

This loan offer the government are making is akin to a normal person taking out a loan and then budgeting that loan into their finances as a proper income, it might tide you over for a little while, might even mean you can afford a little bit extra here and there. but thats short sighted in the extreme. This money isnt going to be there forever and eventually it will have to be paid for.

So the choice is make small cuts and small increses in tax now and dont take the money, or take the money and live the high life for a while and then have to make massive cuts and huge increases in tax to fund the spending and pay back the money you borrowed.

You dont need a degree in economics to see which is the more sensible option.

If you think that what the labour council have done with this situation is a bad idea then you should thank whatever god you believe in that the tories arent in control here or in a couple of years time you would all be paying for it.

Look at the bigger picture, not just at the fact you dont like Alexander. Thats what intelligent people do.

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TerryYork says...
4:00pm Thu 1 Nov 12

You tell him James. This Tory was arselicking Cameron today. It was embarrassing.

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bob the builder says...
4:03pm Thu 1 Nov 12

As if the leader of our 'council' and his entourage will take heed, they will plough on plunging this city into more debt, ruin and despair while lining the pockets of consultants. We can only hope that the ghost of Rod Hills visits him and urges him to change his ways before it goes too far.

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Caecilius says...
5:00pm Thu 1 Nov 12

tobefair wrote:
The Water Lane/Clifton Green traffic debacle probably cost the LibDems the last election. Unwarrented rises in council tax will probably loose the York Labour party the next.
And they could have made a start by refraining from wasting £14,752.34 of council taxpayers' money ripping out the cycle lane at the Water Lane junction to curry favour with a noisy lobby of motorists, after the one actual test of public opinion indicated that most people wanted it left alone.

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inthesticks says...
5:45pm Thu 1 Nov 12

If it`s got to be paid back at a later date with interest then it isn`t a cut is it? Simples.

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greenmonkey says...
11:31pm Thu 1 Nov 12

Sound logic Green Lantern:"This loan offer the government are making is akin to a normal person taking out a loan and then budgeting that loan into their finances as a proper income, it might tide you over for a little while, might even mean you can afford a little bit extra here and there. but thats short sighted in the extreme. This money isnt going to be there forever and eventually it will have to be paid for." James may have got some things wrong, but this is not one of them - part of the mess York is in is exactly because previous Labour councils didnt increase council tax in line with inflation when they had the chance and we got a poor deal in 1996 when becoming a unitary - a 2% increase on a low council tax base is less money than the same percentage for a council with a higher tax base. There may be some inefficiencies still but a lot of them stem from constant change, staff shortages and the constant struggle to cut budgets while protecting services. Water Lane is done now, but what is going to cost far more is the waste PFI contract over the next 25 years.
:

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greenmonkey says...
11:33pm Thu 1 Nov 12

Sound logic Green Lantern:"This loan offer the government are making is akin to a normal person taking out a loan and then budgeting that loan into their finances as a proper income, it might tide you over for a little while, might even mean you can afford a little bit extra here and there. but thats short sighted in the extreme. This money isnt going to be there forever and eventually it will have to be paid for." James may have got some things wrong, but this is not one of them - part of the mess York is in is exactly because previous Labour councils didnt increase council tax as much as others did when they had the chance and we got a poor deal in 1996 when becoming a unitary - a 2% increase on a low council tax base is less money than the same percentage for a council with a higher tax base. There may be some inefficiencies still but a lot of them stem from constant change, staff shortages and the constant struggle to cut budgets while protecting services. Water Lane is done now, but what is going to cost far more is the waste PFI contract over the next 25 years.
:

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TimDoc says...
3:38pm Wed 7 Nov 12

"Energy prices are going up by 10%+
petrol and diesel up by 3% + what the government put on Fuel next April." This is still going to happen whether we get a freeze or not. So I'd rather have the £70 that this will save me than not have it and still have to pay for these rises. I haven't had a pay rise for 5 years so with the cost of living rising 5% a year I have had the equivilant of a 25% pay cut. I assume this is the same for anyone else working in York in the private sector. I can not afford to pay an extra £70 a year. Can you?

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TimDoc says...
3:42pm Wed 7 Nov 12

"Energy prices are going up by 10%+
petrol and diesel up by 3% + what the government put on Fuel next April." This is still going to happen whether we get a freeze or not. So I'd rather have the £70 that this will save me than not have it and still have to pay for these rises. I haven't had a pay rise for 5 years so with the cost of living rising 5% a year I have had the equivilant of a 25% pay cut. I assume this is the same for anyone else working in York in the private sector. I can not afford to pay an extra £70 a year. Can you?

Report this post »

TimDoc says...
3:42pm Wed 7 Nov 12

"Energy prices are going up by 10%+
petrol and diesel up by 3% + what the government put on Fuel next April." This is still going to happen whether we get a freeze or not. So I'd rather have the £70 that this will save me than not have it and still have to pay for these rises. I haven't had a pay rise for 5 years so with the cost of living rising 5% a year I have had the equivilant of a 25% pay cut. I assume this is the same for anyone else working in York in the private sector. I can not afford to pay an extra £70 a year. Can you?

Report this post »

TimDoc says...
3:42pm Wed 7 Nov 12

"Energy prices are going up by 10%+
petrol and diesel up by 3% + what the government put on Fuel next April." This is still going to happen whether we get a freeze or not. So I'd rather have the £70 that this will save me than not have it and still have to pay for these rises. I haven't had a pay rise for 5 years so with the cost of living rising 5% a year I have had the equivilant of a 25% pay cut. I assume this is the same for anyone else working in York in the private sector. I can not afford to pay an extra £70 a year. Can you?

Report this post »

TimDoc says...
3:42pm Wed 7 Nov 12

"Energy prices are going up by 10%+
petrol and diesel up by 3% + what the government put on Fuel next April." This is still going to happen whether we get a freeze or not. So I'd rather have the £70 that this will save me than not have it and still have to pay for these rises. I haven't had a pay rise for 5 years so with the cost of living rising 5% a year I have had the equivilant of a 25% pay cut. I assume this is the same for anyone else working in York in the private sector. I can not afford to pay an extra £70 a year. Can you?

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