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Council to freeze tax
Sheffield Council announces a zero percent increase in council tax. From left, Councillors Leigh Bramall, Bryan Lodge, Julie Dore, Helen Mirfin-Boukouris and Harry Harpham
COUNCIL tax is to be frozen again for next year, cash-strapped Sheffield households were promised today.
The Government is offering councils across the country funding to pay for a council tax freeze, provided they do not increase spending. Sheffield is receiving £4.9 million.
Town Hall bosses had previously warned they might have to increase charges by up to three per cent - but the Government cash input means council tax will now stay at the same level for the third year running.
Coun Dore said the move should help ‘struggling’ households including families and pensioners.
“We will accept the extra funding which has been offered, to ensure council tax levels can be frozen for another year,” she said.
Other councils around South Yorkshire have not yet revealed whether they will also be freezing council tax.
In Sheffield the freeze was warmly welcomed by Jacqueline Milner, of Sheffield Pensioners’ Action Group.
She said: “It’s wonderful news. At least that’s one thing that is not going up when our members who are on low incomes are having to cope with rising prices in the shops and increasing energy bills.”
Sheffield Hallam MP and Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, said: “The Government has made it possible for the Labour council to deliver a council tax freeze after the Lib Dem administration did not increase council tax last year and had the lowest-ever increases in the previous years.”
But Sheffield Council leader Julie Dore has warned council jobs will go, and some services could face the axe, as the authority faces another hefty budget cut next year.
The Labour-run council must find another £52 million of savings from its current £500m budget during 2012/13.
“We are currently undergoing a review of all council services to see where the savings can be made,” she said.
Coun Dore pledged to try to avoid library closures.
“We want to continue to provide a library service to all communities across the city, although we will review how it is provided,” she said, adding she is keen to protect other facilities at libraries too, such as internet access, reading clubs and Bookstart, through which parents receive free books to encourage young children to read.
She revealed the council’s spending review is examining which statutory services have to be provided, then assessing which others could be changed.
“We will then look at what our political priorities are, and what services we provide such as street cleaning and grass cutting. We have to balance everything up, then decide what to do,” she said.
Coun Dore said redundancies are inevitable.
“We will have job losses to come but we have not decided how many and we will try to make sure they are voluntary,” she said.
Last year, the council made only 273 people redundant - but lost hundreds of other posts by axing vacant positions and through people retiring or volunteering to leave.
She said savings at the council could be made by ‘further integrating’ departments which still have separate buildings close together, to share accommodation and facilities.
And she said officials in each department have been asked to come up with savings equivalent to 17.5 per cent of current budgets.
“We will then look at whether some budgets should be protected, while others may be cut 100 per cent,” she added.
COUNCIL TAX BY BAND, PER YEAR
A £983.49
B £1,147.41
C £1,311.33
D £1,475.25
E £1,803.08
F £2,130.90
G £2,458.74
H £2,950.49
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Comments
There are 14 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
crystalpeaksman
Monday, October 17, 2011 at 10:56 PMIts becoming like a stuck record BUT you lot vote liblabcon so can you really complain at the state of this city???? This liebour council like the libs couldnt run a proverbial in a brewery,wake up change how you vote then you wont have to put up with it anymore.
serendipity
Monday, October 17, 2011 at 09:17 PMThey may have frozen the tax, but the ever increasing cost of paying housing benefit to people coming into the City of Sanctuary means less and less will be spent on services. We will come to resemble a third world city in every respect.
doubtful
Monday, October 17, 2011 at 08:16 PMAs someone who has been dumped on by the council, you can make the lot of them redundant as far as I am concerned. No one cares, no one has any compassion. From the councillors themselves down to the pen pushers in Redvers House, all they care about is keeping their jobs and doing as little as possible. The buses are a disgrace, the roads are a disgrace, normal people daren't go out at night, the council estates are dumping grounds for single parents with feral kids, complaints about anything just get a "yeah yeah..so what?" reply. Yet they encourage alco's and druggies to apply for free bus passes, rent and council tax rebates, free food.... and they still want almost £1000 a year from me. Good luck.... I haven't got it !
confidential.informant52
Monday, October 17, 2011 at 06:21 PMbit of a non story, Eric Piccles said back in 2010, that the government would give local councils sufficient money to FREEZE COUNCIL TAX FOR THE YEARS 201112 & 201213 Clearly the Star & the current LABOUR Council of sheffield are just using this as a publicity stunt to try and look good. Im sure the Labour council will take credit for this. And if truth be known, the current labour council within days of being elected in, drew up papers to potentially increase council tax by 4%, not 3% as reported here in the article above. Be prepared for your 201314 council tax bill though, as the labour council of Sheffield are proposing a 10.4% hike, which they are planning on saying is only 4.6% in 'real terms' whatever that means. As always those in the lowest valued houses will be paying around 2.45% of thier property value, whilst those in E - H band will be paying between 0.9-1.3% of their properties value. Yet again the POOR paying MORE than the Wealthy
Ade the Blade
Monday, October 17, 2011 at 03:43 PMWell said Sir Taxedalot, you'd get my vote......Mind you if I were offered a job in the public sector I'd possibly take it as it would reduce my weekly hours from 57.5 to 37.5 and give me a pension, and I wouldn't have to bust a gut. hmmmm maybe I was being a little hasty there Sir T........ah, but hang on a minute, if we ALL were employed in the public sector where would the money come from to me more per hour than I get already. Damn !
Tawny
Monday, October 17, 2011 at 03:10 PMWhy is the council taking credit for this? I had thought that the government had announced some time ago that there would be a freeze on council tax.
Sir Taxedalot
Monday, October 17, 2011 at 01:36 PMCllr Scratch: If the government hadn't told you to freeze the council tax you would have put it up and up as you did in the 80s. If you had your way you would put up council tax 20%. That's because very few of your core voters actually pay full council tax. As for your argument about reduced spending in the local economy, that's just Labournomics. You have created an economy based on taxing the private sector. You obviously haven't noticed that the private sector has been trashed by the real world economy. You wretched fools under the Red Flag think you should be exempt from world events and be allowed to tax even more rather than have to make any savings. Frankly, you could cut the council's budget in half and the services could not get any worse. Why are Sheffield City Council above having to make savings like the rest of us? How much do you suppose all the unemployed construction, sales, engineering and shop staff have to spend in the local economy thanks to Labour's tragic mismanagement? Your idea that we can create a viable economy by borrowing to spend on public services is what got us into this mess. You clearly have no idea what to do about it. And you think I talk sh*te.
dromedary
Monday, October 17, 2011 at 12:29 PM#6 Balloon! . . . I thought it was a toilet ring to protect those fat backsides after they have dumped on everyone.
ISeeEverything
Monday, October 17, 2011 at 12:15 PMI thought it was one of those caption photos they have at the end of HIGNFY. I wonder which budget the balloon came out of.
scratch`
Monday, October 17, 2011 at 11:52 AMWell - the first 3 comments are such utter sh1te, if they are an indication of the people who read the online Star, it may be pointless trying to raise the level of debate. However, it needs to be spelled out that these freezing council tax subsidies are a politically motivated underhand con trick. Supposed to make us so grateful to Pickles & his cronies that we'll consider voting for the coalition come next years elections. But, what use is 4.9 million when Sheffield needs to cut ANOTHER £52m - consider the effect on the local economy of all those lost jobs, the reduced spending in local shops & with local businesses. The Star carefully avoids pointing out the effect on the tax base downstream - eg in 2011 we get a 'Government subsidy' [inverted commas because it's still our money they are spending!] of £X, but the tax income stays the same as 2010. In 2012 the tax income is at 2009 level, we get another £X - but we don't get 2011's £X again - so the city's tax income is effectively frozen. Add to this the massive cuts in other Govt grants, & as I'm sure you've noticed, big increases in bills like energy costs, & you start to wonder just what we're supposed to be grateful to Pickles for!
kayte
Monday, October 17, 2011 at 11:32 AMWell done the Government, without whose intervention the sky would have been the limit for Sheffield Council.
waywoodwind
Monday, October 17, 2011 at 11:23 AMwill they freeze the amount zero the foreigners contribute to our city
Sir Taxedalot
Monday, October 17, 2011 at 10:23 AM“We will then look at what our political priorities are...." I suppose that means buying votes by handing out as much as possible to the usual minority suspects and not antagonising the crim and yob vote too much.
Charlie Farleigh
Monday, October 17, 2011 at 09:22 AMI wonder what the tax would be if there were no public sector subsidies for the likes of Hammerson or Urban Splash. No illegal fire engines, or cash jackpots for 'redundancies' Bashforth style. Or if we hadn't wasted money on Burngreave and Beighton.... or the illegal lights at Totley. I wonder what the tax would be if Scc were not run by muppets who seek to feather their own nest and that of their cronies?
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