WESTBURY’S Liberal Democrat Wiltshire councillors, Carole and Gordon King, say they have decided not to support the Conservative budget to be decided at the Wiltshire Council meeting on 27th February.
Instead, they will both vote for the Lib Dem amendment to the budget to reduce the Council Tax demand from 4.99% to 3.99%. This will cut the Conservatives’ proposed increase in Council Tax for the average Band D household by an average of £15 per year, saving some £2.841m for Wiltshire Council taxpayers.
The Government has made a 3% Social Care Levy available to principal authorities like Wiltshire Council, to be added to the Council Tax but left it up to them to decide how best to access the funding over a two-year period. They could take it all at once or split the 3% across two years. Wiltshire’s Conservative administration want to take this levy all at once, adding a further 3% to their general Council Tax increase of 1.99%. When added together, this will total an overall Council Tax increase of 4.99%.
Cllrs Gordon and Carole King said, “We are supporters of improved funding of social care and would ordinarily have voted to support this. However, we can find no firm evidence that by splitting the levy across two years, taking 2% this year and 1% next, will make any real impact on the council’s capacity to meet expected demand for these services.
“We are also deeply concerned that at a time of significant hardship in communities caused by Covid-19 – lockdown, business failure, increased levels redundancy, and increased dependence on foodbanks and good neighbour services – that too many of our residents are stretched to their limits.
“They would find the impact of this avoidable Council Tax increase too much to bear. As trained debt advisors, we have witnessed the anguish of poverty and the negative impacts this can have on the health and wellbeing of many.”
In addition to a reduction of Council Tax, Liberal Democrats are proposing a “modest increase of £700k’ from the Conservative proposal to put £300k into the Council’s Hardship Fund. This will increase the fund to £1million, the extra funds drawn from a special reserve. The Lib Dems are also proposing to ring-fence a further £1million to support struggling businesses, should the income from business rates exceed expectations.
“By keeping £2.841m in the pockets of Council taxpayers and providing extra help to households and businesses struggling to get through, we believe Wiltshire Council will be better placed to support people and businesses in a Wiltshire where “everyone matters,” they added.
