Council tax freeze should be minimum aim
Why should South Tyneside settle for less?
If Hammersmith and Fulham’s Conservative controlled council can manage to reduce council tax for the third year running without massively affecting it’s services, then why should we in South Tyneside settle for anything less than a freeze in our bills?
Council leader Stephen Greenhalgh said it was possible to cut spending without losing services, although the borough has cut back on staffing by nearly 600 jobs in the past three years.
The borough has also saved £1.1million on accommodation costs for workers and spending on staff from agencies has fallen from £24million to £21million.
It is the third year of council tax cuts in the borough, making the average band D taxpayer £175 better off this year than last.
South Tyneside’s Labour cabinet ought to forget about the phoney consultations that they normally throw at us (you know, asking how much of an increase you would like), and start consultations with councillors in other parts of the country in order to find out just exactly how tax reductions can be achieved!
Hammersmith and Fulham have obviously prioritised certain services to maintain and reduced spending in other areas, their waste reduction programme has delivered year after year, and operations have been slimmed down and streamilined, all of which are of great benefit to their tax payers.
Can we honestly say that we always deliver value for money services in South Tyneside, are they evaluated on a per client/user basis? Can we provide on a cheaper basis?
Don’t we deserve a break Cllr. Malcolm?
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