Andy McDonald branded the government’s new rules on Council Tax ‘devious’ and ‘underhand.’
“It is this Government’s shameful failure to fund our public services appropriately that has left our Social Care system short of funds. That is a political choice by this Conservative government and this devious and underhand change to funding rules merely passes the buck for their failing austerity programme to local authorities.”
Under the new funding rules local authorities will be able to increase council tax by 2.99% with a further 3% specifically to fund social care also available. Mr McDonald continued:
“Local Councils like Middlesbrough are being asked to fund programmes which are the responsibility of the government in Westminster. People in my town and across the Britain are being taxed twice for the same thing. They pay their income tax to fund Public Services and then because the government chooses not to spend the requisite monies on those services they are asked to pay again in local council tax. More than ever we need a Labour government to end austerity and fund the public services we all rely on appropriately and not leave Local Councils to pick up the tab for the government’s abject failures.”