MARK Jenkinson MP has launched a campaign to stop a second planned council tax hike across Cumbria.
No sooner had Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness council taken over in April, they voted for an increase – and they are proposing to do the same thing early next year.
Westmorland and Furness council opted for a hike of up to 5.95 per cent, whilst Cumberland went further with a hike of nearly 7 per cent – some of the largest increases in the country.
Now they are considering a second audacious raid on residents’ pockets in April 2024. In Cumberland, that's an additional £86.35 for a Band D property, and in Westmorland and Furness it's £86.87 - while those in the lowest Band A properties will have to find nearly an additional £60.
Mark Jenkinson MP, who has already started the fight back against the proposed increase, is encouraging his constituents to get in touch.
I will tell the council know exactly how you feel. I want there to be under no illusions about the strength of feeling locally. This is a shameless act of daylight robbery from two ‘stand and deliver nothing’ councils.
All we have seen is months of financial mismanagement. We have seen unnecessary bin strikes in Allerdale and Eden; roads that go unrepaired despite record government funding; bus operators not being passed the support that government has given the councils; and cuts to adult and children's social care and family respite services.
Both councils have gone out to sham consultations, wanting to hike council tax by the maximum 4.99 per cent. Amazingly, in Labour and Lib Dem controlled councils, there's never a figure under the maximum amount that enables them to set a balanced budget - yet Conservative controlled councils seem to manage it.
They talk of government ‘cuts’ and reach for this word ‘austerity’, but they don’t seem to understand what this word means. Since 2010, after allowing for inflation, Cumbrian council budgets have grown.
When the submissions were made by the councils for local government reorganisation, they all showed savings. The successful bid showed savings of 7 to 11 per cent – figures which dwarf these council tax increases.
These councils have done nothing to realise these savings. Council buildings sit half-empty at best, ringfenced government funding goes unspent.
Because of this failure, both councils have already gone cap in hand to government for exceptional financial support - the ability to borrow money, or spend reserves, on day-to-day spending.This practice that is usually not allowed. In Cumberland, the council are already on the verge of bankruptcy because of a failure to use wisely their 11 months as a Shadow Authority, planning efficient staffing and building use to make those savings
