On a report on the BBC East "Inside Out" programme tonight they featured the number of councils locally who own high value number plates, some estimated to be worth several hundred thousand pounds. The presumption of the article was that in these difficult times, councils ought to be selling these private plates, in order to cover the deficits councils are now facing.
I am no lover of council frivolities, and would certainly back the idea of councils selling off high value number plates. However, the "Inside Out" story also highlighted the poor value for money that council's sometimes get when the fail to understand the market in to which they are selling.
The example of Essex County Council selling their "F1" number plate was shown as a massive undervaluation of the number plate. Just two years ago Essex County Council got around £400,000 for the plate. The owner of this number plate has, in just two years, seen the value of this plate go up by more than 1000% with him reportedly turning down a bid of £5 million.
You would have assumed that it might be realised that an "F1" plate not only attracts interest from people who's names start with "F", not only people who want a plate with "1" in it, but also people who have any interest in Formula One racing. Whilst I am sure Essex County Council did everything by the book, did they achieve best value for council tax payers ? It appears not.
But it is not just councils who show a total lack of understanding of the value of an asset. The sale of Qinetiq, the defence and IT contractor, sold off for tens of millions of pounds less than its true value by the Labour government is a classic example of government failing to know the market value of an important public asset. Whilst almost every privatisation handled by the Thatcher government saw a small fortune thrown away meaning taxpayers missed out so that speculators could main a quick buck.
I'm all in favour of review of what council's do and own, and feel that councils need to become much better at their core services and worry less about peripheral activities and owning expensive assets and artwork which give no benefit to taxpayers. But lets see councils and government getting full value for assets, and if it means holding on to some assets in the short come so as not sell at a low point in the market, then I would support that. But council must show more common sense in their actions, and so must the government.
Showing posts with label Council Tax. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Council Tax. Show all posts
6/09/2010
How to save money for the taxpayer
The government say that want to take on ideas from ordinary voters on how they could save money, make cuts, and avoid duplication and pointless exercises which produce no benefits but use up lots of cash.
So I have an idea.
Why not scrap plans announced just this week that every council will be required to publish (presumably on the internet), every piece of expenditure which exceeds £500.
Your typical council must spend amounts in excess of £500 several times a day, and this will have to be logged, reported, passed on, duplicated, scanned and accounted for by a member of staff. It could easily be a job that could take up 100% of a member of staff's time. So Taking in to account National Insurance, the printed, duplicating, wages, and other associated costs, you can assume this will cost a council around £18000 a year.
If we extrapolate these costs across Norfolk (8 councils), we can assume that this decision will cost Norfolk taxpayers around £150000 a year, each and every year.
So come on Mr Pickles, abandon your plans and save taxpayers the money.
So I have an idea.
Why not scrap plans announced just this week that every council will be required to publish (presumably on the internet), every piece of expenditure which exceeds £500.
Your typical council must spend amounts in excess of £500 several times a day, and this will have to be logged, reported, passed on, duplicated, scanned and accounted for by a member of staff. It could easily be a job that could take up 100% of a member of staff's time. So Taking in to account National Insurance, the printed, duplicating, wages, and other associated costs, you can assume this will cost a council around £18000 a year.
If we extrapolate these costs across Norfolk (8 councils), we can assume that this decision will cost Norfolk taxpayers around £150000 a year, each and every year.
So come on Mr Pickles, abandon your plans and save taxpayers the money.
9/29/2008
Tories bottle it over council tax
I'm tired and busy so will keep this brief.
The Tories had a chance today to put down a marker on Council Tax. Everyone knows council tax is unfair, regressive and is a system that is failing both in terms of the way people think about it and in terms of its fairness, so the Tories could have announced a full review or that they would look to replace it with a fairer system of their own. But no, instead they have offered a bribe to voters to put up with the tax.
The truth is that a council tax freeze might offer some respite, but it ignores the fact that Council tax is a crap way of collecting local government taxes.
The Tories had a chance today to put down a marker on Council Tax. Everyone knows council tax is unfair, regressive and is a system that is failing both in terms of the way people think about it and in terms of its fairness, so the Tories could have announced a full review or that they would look to replace it with a fairer system of their own. But no, instead they have offered a bribe to voters to put up with the tax.
The truth is that a council tax freeze might offer some respite, but it ignores the fact that Council tax is a crap way of collecting local government taxes.
9/03/2008
SNP policy could prove to be a gift for Lib Dems too
The SNP's wish to introduce a Local Income Tax (LIT) to replace the regressive and very unfair council tax is a great thing for Scotland, but potentially very good for the Lib Dems too.
A LIT has long been Lib Dem policy and if it works, and let's face it, it works in scores of other countries around the world so there is no reason to believe it won't work here, then it would prove the Lib Dems right in their support for the policy. But more than that, it will push the Tories and Labour in to a corner.
The Tories and Labour are going to have to defend the Council Tax, the last popular tax in the UK, to electors and themselves in order to oppose the SNP's plans.
In effect the Tories and Labour will form an alliance to defend the indefensible, and if the Lib Dems are right and campaign on this issue effectively, they can be made to be seen as backing the wrong horse.
The tag line "Remember The Labour Party/The Tory Party (delete as appropriate) voted to defend the unfair council tax this year and refused to support a fairer system based on people's ability to pay", might be a long line, but if repeated over and over again (and were I still writing Focus leaflets for Fakenham where I was a councillor I would be using this and recycling it every month), then it could prove very effective, especially if done in months when people's council tax bills land on their doorsteps.
A LIT has long been Lib Dem policy and if it works, and let's face it, it works in scores of other countries around the world so there is no reason to believe it won't work here, then it would prove the Lib Dems right in their support for the policy. But more than that, it will push the Tories and Labour in to a corner.
The Tories and Labour are going to have to defend the Council Tax, the last popular tax in the UK, to electors and themselves in order to oppose the SNP's plans.
In effect the Tories and Labour will form an alliance to defend the indefensible, and if the Lib Dems are right and campaign on this issue effectively, they can be made to be seen as backing the wrong horse.
The tag line "Remember The Labour Party/The Tory Party (delete as appropriate) voted to defend the unfair council tax this year and refused to support a fairer system based on people's ability to pay", might be a long line, but if repeated over and over again (and were I still writing Focus leaflets for Fakenham where I was a councillor I would be using this and recycling it every month), then it could prove very effective, especially if done in months when people's council tax bills land on their doorsteps.
4/21/2008
The utter stupidity of Labour's solution to the 10p tax crisis
This afternoon Labour let the press know that they had a partial solution to the crisis within Labour ranks over the abolishing of the 10p tax rate.
In response to serious concerns that 5.3 million people would be worse off under these tax proposals. with the vast bulk of these being people earning less than £18,000 a year, the Labour government were going to extend the remit of an existing investigation in to poverty to look at the causes of poverty of those earning less than £18,000 each year.
So in layman's terms, due to Labour making people earning less than £18K a year poorer, Labour want to investigate why people earning less than £18K a year are poorer.
Is it me or am I missing something?
You see, I think I actually have the answer to the question and we don't need to hold any sort of enquiry or start any sort of investigation. As far as I can tell the reason these people are poorer is because of Labour's budget.
Absolutely incredible.
In response to serious concerns that 5.3 million people would be worse off under these tax proposals. with the vast bulk of these being people earning less than £18,000 a year, the Labour government were going to extend the remit of an existing investigation in to poverty to look at the causes of poverty of those earning less than £18,000 each year.
So in layman's terms, due to Labour making people earning less than £18K a year poorer, Labour want to investigate why people earning less than £18K a year are poorer.
Is it me or am I missing something?
You see, I think I actually have the answer to the question and we don't need to hold any sort of enquiry or start any sort of investigation. As far as I can tell the reason these people are poorer is because of Labour's budget.
Absolutely incredible.
2/24/2008
Have you been paying too much council tax ?
If you live in a Labour controlled area, the answer is almost certainly "yes", but apparently many more of us might have been overcharged as it has been revealed that the government has tried to hide that thousands of people's houses have been incorrectly placed in the wrong band for Council Tax.
The information has apparently been avavilable to the government for three years but they have no sought to tell people affected.
Same old Labour. Same old lies.
The information has apparently been avavilable to the government for three years but they have no sought to tell people affected.
Same old Labour. Same old lies.
2/19/2008
The selfishness of the Council Tax non payers
Let's get one thing straight immediately. I don't like the Council Tax and I want to see it replaced by a fairer system based on people's ability to pay. What else would you expect from a Liberal Democrat.But I do object strongly to people who deliberately refuse to pay their council tax in order to "make a point".
I say this in relation to a gentleman in Norfolk who is now being sent to prison for 34 days because he has again refused to pay his council tax.
If this man had a genuine problem paying his council tax, I would have every sympathy with him but he does not have a problem paying it, he simply refuses to in the belief that it is unfair.
His supporters paint the gentleman as "an ex soldier", which well he might be, but as someone who defended democracy it seems odd that he now feels the best way to deal with his concerns is defy the deomcratic will of the country. Like it or lump it, that's the coice. As lots of people are so keen to tell immigrants, if you come to Britain, then follow the rules.
Perhaps though, for me, the most hypocritical thing about the serial non payers' arguments is the line that they are "doing it for other pensioners". I guess these other pensioners are those who are having to pay ever more council tax (and taxes) in order to fund the councils efforts to collect the owed tax, the letters, the legal fees,the council staffing costs, the solicitors, the barristers and the court costs that have all been accrued due to the non payment of the tax in the first place because despire the council tax rebels liking to act as the heroes of the day, they are the villains of the show who actually cause our council tax to be higher than it should be due to their very non payment.
If people do want to make a stand against council tax then they should lobby their MP, join a pressure group, become a member of a political party that opposes council tax or do everything they can to ensure that the political party they support knows their conerns.
But don't refuse to pay, don't add to the burden that everyone else has to carry by acting like some sort of unwanted martyr claiming you are doing it for everyone else. It's simply self pitying and self indulgent rubbish.
I say this in relation to a gentleman in Norfolk who is now being sent to prison for 34 days because he has again refused to pay his council tax.
If this man had a genuine problem paying his council tax, I would have every sympathy with him but he does not have a problem paying it, he simply refuses to in the belief that it is unfair.
His supporters paint the gentleman as "an ex soldier", which well he might be, but as someone who defended democracy it seems odd that he now feels the best way to deal with his concerns is defy the deomcratic will of the country. Like it or lump it, that's the coice. As lots of people are so keen to tell immigrants, if you come to Britain, then follow the rules.
Perhaps though, for me, the most hypocritical thing about the serial non payers' arguments is the line that they are "doing it for other pensioners". I guess these other pensioners are those who are having to pay ever more council tax (and taxes) in order to fund the councils efforts to collect the owed tax, the letters, the legal fees,the council staffing costs, the solicitors, the barristers and the court costs that have all been accrued due to the non payment of the tax in the first place because despire the council tax rebels liking to act as the heroes of the day, they are the villains of the show who actually cause our council tax to be higher than it should be due to their very non payment.
If people do want to make a stand against council tax then they should lobby their MP, join a pressure group, become a member of a political party that opposes council tax or do everything they can to ensure that the political party they support knows their conerns.
But don't refuse to pay, don't add to the burden that everyone else has to carry by acting like some sort of unwanted martyr claiming you are doing it for everyone else. It's simply self pitying and self indulgent rubbish.
12/06/2007
Is Iain Dale really praising a Council which has cut so many services ?
It is interesting to note Iain Dale's blog today extolling the virtues of a Tory Council (Hammersmith and Fulham), praising them for cutting council tax by 3% and asking why other councils cannot do this.
Perhaps the answer lies with the methods they use in Hammersmith and Fulham.
Take, for example, the council's view on community groups that use council buildings. They are, according to Hammersmith and Fulham Council not really that important. After all, they are not businesses, I guess they do not work on the basis of market forces, therefore, there existence and survival is of little concern. That is why Hammersmith and Fulham sold off buildings owned by the council that were used by local community groups. Yes, a cost saving was gained by the council, but at what cost to the voluntary and community groups ?
But there is more too. The Tories have also, since taking charge of H & F Council taken over £1 million out of the Council’s savings, closed a secondary school, and along with a number of other Tory councils have slashed the home help and meals-on wheels services..
But don't worry, council tax is down 3%.
Did I mention that road sweeping budgets have also gone down by £500, 000 cut street cleaning by more than £500,000.
Don;t worry, council tax is down 3%.
Of course that is of no benefit if you die in Hammersmith and Fulham because the Tories introduced increased burial cost for local people by almost 50%.
Ah, but it is not much better if you are alive and want a home. The Tory Council cancelled 500 affordable homes.
But as Iain point out, you can achieve a 3% cut in council tax. As long, it appears, as you put up charges, close things, sell things off and raid your council reserves.
One Labour activist goes on the attack about last year's budget HERE, but if you believe him or the Tory view, and it is interesting to note that the Tory refers to miserly council tax increases, the truth is that H&F Council received one of the most generous government grant increases of any London Borough last year, there has clearly been a policy of increased charges, costs and sell offs.
Iain, you may hail this as good news. I would suggest voluntary groups, first time buyers, and a host of others would disagree.
Perhaps the answer lies with the methods they use in Hammersmith and Fulham.
Take, for example, the council's view on community groups that use council buildings. They are, according to Hammersmith and Fulham Council not really that important. After all, they are not businesses, I guess they do not work on the basis of market forces, therefore, there existence and survival is of little concern. That is why Hammersmith and Fulham sold off buildings owned by the council that were used by local community groups. Yes, a cost saving was gained by the council, but at what cost to the voluntary and community groups ?
But there is more too. The Tories have also, since taking charge of H & F Council taken over £1 million out of the Council’s savings, closed a secondary school, and along with a number of other Tory councils have slashed the home help and meals-on wheels services..
But don't worry, council tax is down 3%.
Did I mention that road sweeping budgets have also gone down by £500, 000 cut street cleaning by more than £500,000.
Don;t worry, council tax is down 3%.
Of course that is of no benefit if you die in Hammersmith and Fulham because the Tories introduced increased burial cost for local people by almost 50%.
Ah, but it is not much better if you are alive and want a home. The Tory Council cancelled 500 affordable homes.
But as Iain point out, you can achieve a 3% cut in council tax. As long, it appears, as you put up charges, close things, sell things off and raid your council reserves.
One Labour activist goes on the attack about last year's budget HERE, but if you believe him or the Tory view, and it is interesting to note that the Tory refers to miserly council tax increases, the truth is that H&F Council received one of the most generous government grant increases of any London Borough last year, there has clearly been a policy of increased charges, costs and sell offs.
Iain, you may hail this as good news. I would suggest voluntary groups, first time buyers, and a host of others would disagree.
6/23/2007
So Council Tax has doubled- But what about the full facts ?
The Halifax has produced a report that shows that since 1997 Council Tax has almost doubled.
This might be an interesting figure in itself, but it seems to be a report aimed at having a swipe at council when really it is the government that is to blame.
What the Halifax needed to examine was how much the central government grant to councils had risen by during this period and had the grant increased to cover extra costs that councils have been forced to undertake as part of the government's plans to palm off responsibility to local councils.
Of course, the Halifax report makes no reference to central government funding so it is fatally floored.
The fact that councils now have to meet recycling targets, something that has been imposed from central government with no extra funding from Whitehall to cover this, is something that the Halifax simply ignore. In addition, responsibilities like licensing, formerly a central government expense, now palmed off without additional funding to local government, is again ignored. All this and a host of other things show why simply quoting headline figures like "Council tax doubles in ten years" is ignorant.
It is too easy to blame local councils, and that is what labour want to see happen. They know that be failing to provide enough money to council from central government it is the councils, largely run by Tories or Lib Dems who get the blame.
So are we to guess that someone senior in The Halifax is after a peerage or wants to chair a QUANGO ?
This might be an interesting figure in itself, but it seems to be a report aimed at having a swipe at council when really it is the government that is to blame.
What the Halifax needed to examine was how much the central government grant to councils had risen by during this period and had the grant increased to cover extra costs that councils have been forced to undertake as part of the government's plans to palm off responsibility to local councils.
Of course, the Halifax report makes no reference to central government funding so it is fatally floored.
The fact that councils now have to meet recycling targets, something that has been imposed from central government with no extra funding from Whitehall to cover this, is something that the Halifax simply ignore. In addition, responsibilities like licensing, formerly a central government expense, now palmed off without additional funding to local government, is again ignored. All this and a host of other things show why simply quoting headline figures like "Council tax doubles in ten years" is ignorant.
It is too easy to blame local councils, and that is what labour want to see happen. They know that be failing to provide enough money to council from central government it is the councils, largely run by Tories or Lib Dems who get the blame.
So are we to guess that someone senior in The Halifax is after a peerage or wants to chair a QUANGO ?
11/10/2006
Here we go again. More council tax rises in store !
Most people in the street do not know that their local council is reliant on 
government grants for a large proportion of the council's income. Those same people don't realise just how much the government has squeezed the money it gives to councils whilst at the same time they are asking councils to do more and more. So it is easy to see why people get so fed up with rising council taxes each year.
This year, again, the fear is that councils will be forced to close more and more facilities and provide less services because the government are already intimating that funding will again be squeezed. The BBC reports on it HERE.
The sad thing is that for just a small fraction of the cost of the war in Iraq we could provide proper funding for councils so that they don't have to close or cut swimming pools, leisure centres and social services.
Luckily in North Norfolk, despite severe squeezes from the government,
the Lib Dem council has done well to avoid large increases in council tax (I think we've had over the three years the lowest successive years of increase in council tax since its introduction in the early 1990's). But just to explain how daft the government's grant is, if North Norfolk received the same amount per head of population as Breckland (the neighbouring authority), North Norfolk could cut Council Tax by over 30%, and that isn't taking in to account that Breckland has to spend nothing on protecting the coastline !
Council tax and the whole system of grants from government which are worked out and distributed almost on a whim are crazy and the whole system needs to be replaced by a system based firmly on a person's ability to pay. This is clear and transparent and would make council's much more accountable to the electorate.
government grants for a large proportion of the council's income. Those same people don't realise just how much the government has squeezed the money it gives to councils whilst at the same time they are asking councils to do more and more. So it is easy to see why people get so fed up with rising council taxes each year.This year, again, the fear is that councils will be forced to close more and more facilities and provide less services because the government are already intimating that funding will again be squeezed. The BBC reports on it HERE.
The sad thing is that for just a small fraction of the cost of the war in Iraq we could provide proper funding for councils so that they don't have to close or cut swimming pools, leisure centres and social services.
Luckily in North Norfolk, despite severe squeezes from the government,
the Lib Dem council has done well to avoid large increases in council tax (I think we've had over the three years the lowest successive years of increase in council tax since its introduction in the early 1990's). But just to explain how daft the government's grant is, if North Norfolk received the same amount per head of population as Breckland (the neighbouring authority), North Norfolk could cut Council Tax by over 30%, and that isn't taking in to account that Breckland has to spend nothing on protecting the coastline !Council tax and the whole system of grants from government which are worked out and distributed almost on a whim are crazy and the whole system needs to be replaced by a system based firmly on a person's ability to pay. This is clear and transparent and would make council's much more accountable to the electorate.
10/29/2006
More Tory hypocrisy on Council Tax
The BBC reports this morning that the Tories are concerned about a possible replacement for the Council Tax and the possibility that it might be trialled first in Northern Ireland.
Didn't the Tories trial the Poll Tax in Scotland first ? Have the Tories got any replacement at all for the Council Tax ? Of all the taxes most loathed in the last 20 years, the Poll Tax and the Council Tax are surely top of the list. Both ill conceived, both have nothing to do with anyone's ability to pay, and both were Tory policies.
I hope the Council Tax will not be replaced with anything that relates to the value of your house and is instead based purely on your income. I have elderly pensioners in my ward who are on low incomes but live in big houses in Fakenham that were worth little when they bought them 40 years ago, but have shot up in value. The Council tax at present is so unfair to these people and means that, for example, they are paying as much in Council tax as many millionaires leving in London. Hardly fair, unless you are a Tory that is !
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