UK: Council tax to rise while services cut, says LGA - Polidicks

[URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38982643"]Source.[/URL] [QUOTE]Council leaders are warning of deep cuts to services despite nearly every local authority in England planning to raise council tax in 2017. Increases of up to 4.99% are expected across the country, but libraries, bin collections and other services will still face funding gaps. The Local Government Association says the cost of care for increasing numbers of elderly people is forcing up bills. The government insists it is giving more money to councils. The Department for Communities and Local Government said local authorities had been given a "historic" four-year settlement, giving them the certainty they needed to plan ahead, with almost £200bn available "to provide the services that local people want". All councils in England can raise council tax by 1.99% in April without having a local referendum. The 151 social care authorities can increase bills by an extra 3% as long as that money goes on social care. The Local Government Association (LGA) says 147 of these have already agreed or are planning to raise the extra money. And three-quarters are set to introduce the maximum hike. Some residents will see even higher rises, as council tax regulations say the cap is based on the average council tax across the area, rather than a maximum for each household. However, the LGA says further cuts will still be needed as councils are being pushed "perilously close to the financial edge". Warwickshire County Council leader Izzi Seccombe told the BBC: "To continue it is really looking like we're cutting into the bones of services that matter to people. "It's not just social care. Things like roads, highways, bus services which are subsidised, libraries, access to leisure centres, waste services, children's services as well." Why will there be a 4.99% rise? All local authorities in England can raise council tax by up to 1.99% in April. Any higher, and they would need to hold a referendum to get residents to agree with the hike before they could put it in place. But the 151 social care authorities can also increase bills by an extra 3%. This is the social care precept, introduced by George Osborne in 2015 to allow local authorities to raise extra money to specifically pay for social care. The Local Government Association (LGA) says 147 of these have already agreed or are planning to raise the extra money. And three-quarters are set to introduce the maximum hike. Added together, this means most people in England will be looking at a 4.99% rise in council tax in the coming year. Some people will pay more as the 4.99% cap only has to be the "average" rise across the area. So for Swindon Borough Council, for example, householders in some council tax bands will see a 3.12% rise whilst others will see a 7.28% rise - with the average staying within the rules. Will this rise cover local services? Many councils say no and their issue stems from a change in the way local services are funded.[/QUOTE] Thanks, Tories. Maybe its time we started cutting them off instead of allowing them to continue with the bullshit policies of placing more weight on the shoulders of the general public. Fuck George Osbourne and fuck this wretched government.

I wouldn't mind a tax increase if like, they actually spent it in sensible ways instead of wasting it by investing it in shares that don't pay out. Most councils in this country are terrible and you can't say fuck Osborne because he got taken off the Chancellery so it's not his fault shit is still getting cut.

[QUOTE=GordonZombie;51848801][URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38982643"]Source.[/URL] Thanks, Tories. Maybe its time we started cutting them off instead of allowing them to continue with the bullshit policies of placing more weight on the shoulders of the general public. Fuck George Osbourne and fuck this wretched government.[/QUOTE] The bins get collected once every two weeks, and because they are so rushed they miss mine half the time. (Or they are lazy). My bins have not been collected for a month and a half.

[QUOTE=ViralHatred;51848818]Most councils in this country are terrible and you can't say fuck Osborne because he got taken off the Chancellery so it's not his fault shit is still getting cut.[/QUOTE] The guy is kinda responsible, part of this is his legacy: [QUOTE]But the 151 social care authorities can also increase bills by an extra 3%. This is the social care precept, introduced by George Osborne in 2015 to allow local authorities to raise extra money to specifically pay for social care.[/QUOTE] Of course, we can still afford to give tax breaks to big companies even though a significant chunk of the country is struggling to get by.

Lots of places you go in the UK, especially the North, things are dirty, untidy, overgrown and neglected because council spending is being slashed so much. I think taxes are inherently good but when there's shite-all getting done anyway and then they're being increased it's quite irritating. Saying that, I'm a student bum who doesn't pay tax. :v:

[QUOTE=GordonZombie;51848853] Of course, we can still afford to give tax breaks to big companies even though a significant chunk of the country is struggling to get by.[/QUOTE] Tax breaks to big companies creates jobs. Raising Corporation tax, in the short term may provide funding for public services but long term, it does nothing for the economy. Infact since 2010, the UK has more people [URL="http://www.spectator.co.uk/2015/03/the-coalitions-jobs-record-is-miraculous-why-wont-they-talk-about-it/"]employed than at any point in it's history.[/URL] Yeah the jobs could pay better but it's better than nothing.

We're just not prepared for an larger amount of elderly people as well.

[QUOTE=The mouse;51848901]Tax breaks to big companies creates jobs. Raising Corporation tax, in the short term may provide funding for public services but long term, it does nothing for the economy. Infact since 2010, the UK has more people [URL="http://www.spectator.co.uk/2015/03/the-coalitions-jobs-record-is-miraculous-why-wont-they-talk-about-it/"]employed than at any point in it's history.[/URL] Yeah the jobs could pay better but it's better than nothing.[/QUOTE] Increased consumer demand and growth create jobs, cutting taxes on corporations doesn't. They aren't just magically spending that extra money to employ people unless they have incentive to create output, and shifting the tax burden onto generally poor consumers is counter productive.

[QUOTE=Shadow801;51848819]The bins get collected once every two weeks, and because they are so rushed they miss mine half the time. (Or they are lazy). My bins have not been collected for a month and a half.[/QUOTE] Ours are getting collected once every 3 weeks soon. I do wonder what the savings of switching it to 1 in 3 weeks are compared to how much more they're going to be spending eradicating pests because of the time between collections.

[QUOTE=Shadow801;51848819]The bins get collected once every two weeks, and because they are so rushed they miss mine half the time. (Or they are lazy). My bins have not been collected for a month and a half.[/QUOTE] Sounds like a problem with your local authority that, lad. Ring your local council.

Funny thing is most of the people who voted for them will complain about this

[QUOTE=NeonpieDFTBA;51848951]Increased consumer demand and growth create jobs, cutting taxes on corporations doesn't. They aren't just magically spending that extra money to employ people unless they have incentive to create output, and shifting the tax burden onto generally poor consumers is counter productive.[/QUOTE] Or you know, jobs create increased consumer demand because more people have disposable income, which then also create more jobs. As more consumer demand means that businesses need to open more stores/chains/franchises whatever to accommodate them

[QUOTE=The mouse;51849167]Or you know, jobs create increased consumer demand because more people have disposable income, which then also create more jobs. As more consumer demand means that businesses need to open more stores/chains/franchises whatever to accommodate them[/QUOTE] you're putting the cart before the horse. corporate tax cuts, 1%r tax cuts, top down tax cuts they don't create consumer demand or jobs or anything. stimulating the middle class and easing the burden from there on down creates demand, create opportunities there and you create jobs but trickle down economics and extreme austarity have shown to do fuckall for growth [editline]20th February 2017[/editline] tax cuts to the rich are like concords, they look great, seem amazing but only a few people could ever afford to fly on them, while improving the lot of the middle and lower class is like the 747 that the rich can buy 1st class tickets for but everybody else also can fly on which encourages travel and thereby encourages more planes to be built

[QUOTE=Sableye;51849200]you're putting the cart before the horse. corporate tax cuts, 1%r tax cuts, top down tax cuts they don't create consumer demand or jobs or anything.[/QUOTE] People keep saying this but facts beg to differ. The UK has had the highest growth and employment rate in W.Europe by pursuing these policies [QUOTE=Sableye;51849200]stimulating the middle class and easing the burden from there on down creates demand, create opportunities there and you create jobs[/QUOTE] The government has also been doing this by raising the mimimum tax threshold.

My bins are constantly over flowing due to the main bin being emptied only once every 3 weeks, plus whenever anything goes wrong and we have to call the council out, for example an electrician came once to simply fix a plug socket and he fucked the entire mains up in my house for the whole day.

Increased taxes and cut backs on services makes me wonder if state funded pensions or the generous public sector pensions will even exist by the time millennials or generation X begin hitting their 60s

Honestly pretty worried about this, Some of those rumoured rises in council tax look set to put my entire family out of our homes from the numbers ive seen. Things seem very bleak indeed. Not much in the way of hope it will be well spent either, Just got a new bunch of Tory Councillors in our area recently after the last group of independents resigned due to not wanting to deal with all of the cuts. The first thing they did was spend our entire years budget doing up their offices so they had a new bathroom and a gym, and their website just says "our goal is to increase Conservative influence in your area". With a short paragraph about the figures involved, that's literally it. Our police wont respond to anything short of a stabbing due to "lack of resources" (seriously, a guy I know had his car vandalised in full view of 5 separate security cameras and they did nothing about it) we only have two ambulances running, our schools are appalling, but at least the old fat blokes at the council have a gym they wont use. Splendid.

The waste services in my city are terrible. Bins are collected every 2 weeks with recycling and regular rubbish on alternate weeks, but there's no accounting for number of residents. Not to mention you're screwed if you have some bulky rubbish like polystyrene packaging because it will fill your bin instantly and the only other option is to drive to the dump that's 10 miles away in another county because the local one has the shortest most inconvenient opening hours. The council also wants £25 to come and pick up large items like an old dishwasher only to miss the slot they said they'd come and pick it up and then not bother coming at all. There's no wonder people fly tip if its this hard to correctly dispose of waste. I've just taken to burning bulky stuff now, fuck it. Not to mention the roads are in terrible condition and emergency services are stretched so thin they may as well not exist. And they want to increase council tax to pay for people that lived through prosperous times and had years to save a pension but didn't bother. Pricks.

[QUOTE=fulgrim;51852660]Honestly pretty worried about this, Some of those rumoured rises in council tax look set to put my entire family out of our homes from the numbers ive seen. Things seem very bleak indeed. Not much in the way of hope it will be well spent either, Just got a new bunch of Tory Councillors in our area recently after the last group of independents resigned due to not wanting to deal with all of the cuts. The first thing they did was spend our entire years budget doing up their offices so they had a new bathroom and a gym, and their website just says "our goal is to increase Conservative influence in your area". With a short paragraph about the figures involved, that's literally it. Our police wont respond to anything short of a stabbing due to "lack of resources" (seriously, a guy I know had his car vandalised in full view of 5 separate security cameras and they did nothing about it) we only have two ambulances running, our schools are appalling, but at least the old fat blokes at the council have a gym they wont use. Splendid.[/QUOTE] It's straight up horseshit. People need to start taking harsher measures/punitive action against the imbeciles who aren't acting in the interests of their constituencies but that's a pipe dream, people just keep voting for these idiots.

Fuck this country, they're running it into the ground as fast as they can and running with the money. They don't give a fuck about us.

[QUOTE=The mouse;51849253]People keep saying this but facts beg to differ. The UK has had the highest growth and employment rate in W.Europe by pursuing these policies The government has also been doing this by raising the mimimum tax threshold.[/QUOTE] the majority of that growth has been unsustanably low paying jobs and 0-hour contracts, the actual standard of living is dropping which is way more critical in assessing the economic state of a country. marginally adjusting the tax rate while continually lowering the qualify of services is still squeezing the middle class.

You can say "there are more jobs than ever!", but nearly a million of these are zero-hours contracts, which can barely be called a fucking job. My mum is on one, and she earns about £20 a month on it, but she's technically classed as "employed" according to government figures. I'd take anything they say about employment with a huge pinch of salt when you account for things like this.

[QUOTE=MissZoey;51855963]You can say "there are more jobs than ever!", but nearly a million of these are zero-hours contracts, which can barely be called a fucking job. [/QUOTE] [URL="http://www.spectator.co.uk/2015/03/the-coalitions-jobs-record-is-miraculous-why-wont-they-talk-about-it/"]That's wrong though, the number is much closer to 200,000[/URL] [QUOTE]Employment is up by 1.7 million since Cameron took power and 1.5 million of these jobs are full-time. [/QUOTE]