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Telegraph
4 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Exposed: The councils quietly raising tax by more than 300pc
Voters in rural England are being hit with a 'local stealth tax' which has seen parish and town council levies quadruple overnight. Across the country, householders are facing huge increases in the amount parishes are charging because cash-strapped district councils are stopping funding services they have run for years. This means parish councils are forced to step in and provide these services, which include vital amenities such as public toilets and parks. But while the amount that districts can increase council tax is capped, there is no cap for parish councils, meaning some areas have seen eye-watering increases. In April, a total of 11 parishes increased their council tax precepts by more than 300 per cent. In Waverley, South Yorkshire, it rose from £63.47 a year in 2023-24 to £288.46 in 2024-25. The highest parish council tax increase was Wharton in Westmorland, where the precept went up by 1,783 per cent from £1.67 to £31.45. Elliot Keck, head of campaigns at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said councils were devolving services such as public toilets and CCTV because they could no longer afford to fund them without breaching the council tax cap. He said the government should impose a cap on parish council tax increases, just as there is for higher bodies. 'Parish precepts are set to be just the latest stealth tax squeezing household budgets, if funding pressures in local government continue,' he said. 'Most town councils are uncontroversial bodies, operating important amenities for what is a small charge on top of council tax bills. But more and more, we are seeing local taxpayers hit by extraordinary hikes in what they're charging, on top of increases at the other levels of local government. 'The government should be consulting on a referendum cap to be placed on parish precept rises to ensure residents aren't hit by surprise bills which they had no say on.' The charge made by parish and town councils – the lowest tier of local government – is added as a 'precept' onto the district's council tax bills. County and unitary councils have their bills capped at 5 per cent, while districts cannot increase their bills by more than 3 per cent. But there is no cap for parish and town councils, which provide services such as allotments, village halls, parks, litter bins and public toilets. In Somerset, cost-cutting measures have led to sharp increases in parish council precepts. Facing £35 million in budget cuts, the county council announced the devolution of services to town and parish councils. They withdrew funding for public toilets, CCTV, visitor centres and other local amenities and asked parish councils to cover the costs. Yeovil parish council precept rose 90 per cent from £145 to £276, and Taunton's by 173 per cent from £110 to £299 in 2024-25. Meanwhile, Somerset Council increased their council tax, excluding parish precept, by 4.99 per cent in 2024-25. Similar cuts were made by Wiltshire in 2019. It had to make £27 million in savings, forcing Chippenham parish council to take on services and increase its parish precept by 40 per cent. These services included a large historic park, a community and arts centre and some small play areas. The parish also took on more road sweeping duties. Chippenham was forced to institute a parish precept rise of 38 per cent in 2019-20. Shadow communities secretary Kevin Hollinrake said: 'The Labour Government is forcing up council tax across the board through their fiddled funding. 'Parish councils have had no compensation at all from Rachel Reeves's job tax, leading to a double whammy of soaring council tax on top. 'Labour's flawed plans for top-down unitary restructuring also threaten to lead to cost shunting from the old councils down to parish level, cooked up in Whitehall but with town and parish councils to take the blame.' A spokesman for the Wharton parish council said its increase was so high because of an administrative error the year before.
Daily Mail
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Council to make four-day week permanent for staff despite fury from locals who claim services have plummeted
A four day working week is set to become permanent at a Lib Dem-run council despite complaints from residents. South Cambridgeshire district council carried out a two-year pilot to test the controversial plan and concluded it saved money without harming services. Three universities monitored services during the first 27 months of the trial and said that nine out of 24 council services improved, 12 remained stable and three declined. But a resident survey found only 45 per cent supported it and said refuse collection, council tax services and the customer contact centre had all become worse in that time. The consultation response found that of the 13 services measured, nine got worse while four stayed the same, according to those who live in the area. Those to suffer included bin collections, the communications service, licensing matters and environmental health. A business survey found that of the ten services measured, one got worse, four stayed the same and five recorded no result. No increases in satisfaction for services were recorded. Elliot Keck of the Taxpayers' Alliance said the results were 'devastating' and the response of residents had been 'brutal'. 'South Cambridgeshire council has nowhere to hide after this bruising consultation completely collapses its case for the four day week,' he said. 'Wheeling out yet another piece of propaganda masquerading as an independent report will fool no one, given the overwhelmingly negative response from residents and frosty reception from businesses. 'Town hall bosses need to now face the music, apologise to local taxpayers and bring back the full-time council.' Mr Keck criticised the 'supposedly independent' report compiled by the three universities after a previous report was found to have been edited by the council's chief executive. Heather Williams, leader of the Conservative opposition, said the new report actually showed that resident satisfaction had fallen in every area since the trial began. 'This reaffirmed my view that this is not something we should be doing at the council. It's incredibly unfair that council tax is going up year after year,' she told the Mail. 'Now it's going up to fund council officers not to work a full week. Residents aren't council - we are legally bound to pay our council tax. 'This has to stop. Residents have had their say and we have to take what they say seriously.' In 2023, the council became the first local authority to trial staff working 80per cent of their contracted hours for full pay as long as they maintained full productivity. South Cambridgeshire has said it expects to save about £400,000 annually due to through lower staff turnover and relying less on agency workers. It also reported a 120per cent increase in job applications and a 40per cent fall in staff turnover and said initial indications were positive. A vote to make the move permanent is expected to pass on July 17 with fears more councils could follow suit. It comes at a time when other public sector workers are under increasing pressure and council tax bills soar. In 2023 it emerged that Liz Watts, the council's chief executive, had helped to edit a supposedly independent report on the scheme. It also emerged that she had been working on her PhD during the four-day week. Len Shackleton, a research fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs, a free market think tank, told the Times there were 'clearly benefits' if staff were happier and stayed in their jobs. But he also questioned whether this was due to workers improving because they know they are under scrutiny. And he warned that rolling out the policy more broadly may also have an inflationary effect as workers in sectors where a four-day week is impossible may demand pay rises to compensate. 'If it works for South Cambridgeshire, good for them. But if this is used as a template for every council across the country, you might run into problems,' he added. Defending the policy, council leader Ms Smith said South Cambridgeshire was 'now offering more stable services, with improved wellbeing and performance'. She added: 'At a time when national satisfaction with councils is falling, our data shows we're bucking that trend.'
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bankrupt councils dish out £600k in ‘golden hellos'
Two cash-strapped councils have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on 'golden hellos' for new staff despite declaring bankruptcy, The Telegraph can reveal. Birmingham City Council handed individual payments of £1,000 to workers for agreeing to sign on between 2022 and last year, while Croydon Council paid them as much as £5,000 in the same period. The sign-on bonuses were paid despite declining public services with Birmingham forced to dim street lights and cut bin collections as council tax soared 10pc last year alone. Croydon, which declared bankruptcy in 2023, issued another £35m warning last year. The cash incentives were given to dozens of new recruits to frontline local authority services, according to Freedom of Information requests made by The Telegraph. Croydon spent £439,000 on starting bonuses between 2022 and 2024. It gave a 'welcome payment' of £5,000 to 74 staff during that time, while 15 received payments of £4,000 and three were paid £3,000. In the same period, Croydon declared effective bankruptcy three times between 2020 and 2022, while Birmingham went bankrupt in 2023. The starting bonuses at Croydon were approved amid a financial crisis at the town hall, which in November 2022 issued its third Section 114 notice, a legal mechanism that declares a local authority cannot balance its budget. It raised council tax by 15pc in 2023, which pushed up bills for the average household in Croydon by £235 a year to over £2,000. Croydon council taxpayers will see bills rise by 4.8pc between 2025 to 2026, with an average Band D property bill rising to around £2,480, a further increase of £113. Croydon is no longer under a Section 114 notice. Elliot Keck, head of campaigns at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'Residents in bankrupt Birmingham and Croydon will be furious that their councils have squandered hundreds of thousands on golden hellos. 'Taxpayers deserve answers, not more reckless handouts from cash-strapped town halls.' The Conservative mayor of Croydon, Jason Perry, blamed 'toxic historic mismanagement' at the time. The council received a £136m bailout from the taxpayer in February after projecting an overspend of £98m this financial year. Birmingham spent a total of £152,000 on its 'golden hello' scheme for new recruits. The initiative was introduced in 2022 to boost hiring in adults' and children's social care services, and by 2024 it had paid 152 new hires £1,000 each. The council defended the scheme as necessary to tackle difficulties hiring new social care staff which it described as 'one of the most acute national workforce challenges'. The city issued its Section 114 notice in 2023 and increased council tax by 10pc last year, with a further 8.5pc increase approved this year, taking the average Band D council tax to £2,236 a year. A Birmingham City Council spokesman said: 'National bodies such as the Local Government Authority and British Association of Social Workers have repeatedly highlighted recruitment into adults' and children's social care roles as one of the most acute national workforce challenges, particularly within frontline health and social care roles. 'The introduction of a £1,000 golden hello for recruits into hard-to-fill posts such as qualified social workers and occupational therapists represents a modest, proportionate and evidence-based incentive aligned with sector-wide practices. We do not pay golden hellos for officers in senior leadership roles.' Croydon Council was contacted for comment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
11-04-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Bankrupt councils dish out £600k in ‘golden hellos'
Two cash-strapped councils have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on 'golden hellos' for new staff despite declaring bankruptcy, The Telegraph can reveal. Birmingham City Council handed individual payments of £1,000 to workers for agreeing to sign on between 2022 and last year, while Croydon Council paid them as much as £5,000 in the same period. The sign-on bonuses were paid despite declining public services with Birmingham forced to dim street lights and cut bin collections as council tax soared 10pc last year alone. Croydon, which declared bankruptcy in 2023, issued another £35m warning last year. The cash incentives were given to dozens of new recruits to frontline local authority services, according to Freedom of Information requests made by The Telegraph. Croydon spent £439,000 on starting bonuses between 2022 and 2024. It gave a 'welcome payment' of £5,000 to 74 staff during that time, while 15 received payments of £4,000 and three were paid £3,000. In the same period, Croydon declared effective bankruptcy three times between 2020 and 2022, while Birmingham went bankrupt in 2023. The starting bonuses at Croydon were approved amid a financial crisis at the town hall, which in November 2022 issued its third Section 114 notice, a legal mechanism that declares a local authority cannot balance its budget. It raised council tax by 15pc in 2023, which pushed up bills for the average household in Croydon by £235 a year to over £2,000. Croydon council taxpayers will see bills rise by 4.8pc between 2025 to 2026, with an average Band D property bill rising to around £2,480, a further increase of £113. Croydon is no longer under a Section 114 notice. Elliot Keck, head of campaigns at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'Residents in bankrupt Birmingham and Croydon will be furious that their councils have squandered hundreds of thousands on golden hellos. 'Taxpayers deserve answers, not more reckless handouts from cash-strapped town halls.' The Conservative mayor of Croydon, Jason Perry, blamed 'toxic historic mismanagement' at the time. The council received a £136m bailout from the taxpayer in February after projecting an overspend of £98m this financial year. Birmingham spent a total of £152,000 on its 'golden hello' scheme for new recruits. The initiative was introduced in 2022 to boost hiring in adults' and children's social care services, and by 2024 it had paid 152 new hires £1,000 each. The council defended the scheme as necessary to tackle difficulties hiring new social care staff which it described as 'one of the most acute national workforce challenges'. The city issued its Section 114 notice in 2023 and increased council tax by 10pc last year, with a further 8.5pc increase approved this year, taking the average Band D council tax to £2,236 a year. A Birmingham City Council spokesman said: 'National bodies such as the Local Government Authority and British Association of Social Workers have repeatedly highlighted recruitment into adults' and children's social care roles as one of the most acute national workforce challenges, particularly within frontline health and social care roles. 'The introduction of a £1,000 golden hello for recruits into hard-to-fill posts such as qualified social workers and occupational therapists represents a modest, proportionate and evidence-based incentive aligned with sector-wide practices. We do not pay golden hellos for officers in senior leadership roles.' Croydon Council was contacted for comment.
Telegraph
04-04-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Labour councillors living freebie ‘high life' as rubbish piles high on Birmingham's streets
Labour councillors have accepted hundreds of pounds worth of freebies during Birmingham's bin strike. The city council's deputy leader attended ballet shows and a Champions League football match as rubbish began to pile high, it has emerged. The authority's cabinet member for tourism also enjoyed a free meal worth £50 during the crisis, which has led to rats 'as big as cats' plaguing neighbourhoods and even getting into residents' cars. Elliot Keck, head of campaigns at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'Local residents will be utterly appalled that as their bins pile high, councillors are living the high life. 'Birmingham's ballooning bin crisis is just the latest in a long line of catastrophic failures from this pitiful town hall, with the stench of incompetence and ineptitude almost overpowering that of the growing piles of waste. 'Ministers need to consider whether Birmingham council is fit for purpose, or whether this leviathan of a council needs to be abolished entirely, with a new body or set of bodies formed in its place.' Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, on Thursday was forced by a union boss to intervene in the dispute by sending Jim McMahon, the local government minister, to confront council chiefs. While the all-out strike was only launched by bin workers last month, mounds of waste began to pile up on Birmingham's streets in January when intermittent walkouts first took place. One-day strikes on Jan 6, 14 and 22 were followed by a fourth day of strike action on Jan 30. The evening before, on Jan 29, as the city prepared for another day of missed collections, Sharon Thompson, the council's deputy leader, was in the stands of Villa Park alongside 42,000 other football supporters. She received a ticket worth approximately £300 from Brindley Capital, an investment firm, to watch Aston Villa beat Celtic 4-2 in the Champions League. Just over two weeks later on Feb 15, the councillor and a guest were at Symphony Hall, Birmingham's grandest concert venue, for a ballet show celebrating Frederick Ashton, the famed British choreographer. Four days later on Feb 19, she and a guest watched a ballet performance of Cinderella at the Birmingham Hippodrome. She later declared the value of the Ashton show tickets as £60 and the Cinderella tickets as £80. Earlier that month, her council colleague Saima Suleman, the council's cabinet member for digital, culture, heritage and tourism, received a free meal at Asha's Indian Restaurant from the Night Time Industries Association, an organisation representing the UK's night-time venues. She later declared that the meal was worth £50 and she attended 'on behalf of the [council] leader'. A council spokesman insisted that the councillors' gifts were related to their work in the authority. But as they enjoyed the complimentary shows and meals, the bin workers were ramping up their strike action. Members of Unite announced on Feb 26 that they would escalate their walkouts into an indefinite all-out strike from March 11. John Hunt, the former leader of the council's Liberal Democrat group, suggested the freebies raised questions over how seriously the council had been treating the industrial action. He said: 'We've all been wondering whether council leadership is taking this seriously enough. ' Birmingham is on the edge of chaos and the strike is fundamental to solving the city's problems. We had a major incident declared but things only seem to have got worse.' It is estimated that almost three million wheelie bins worth of waste has been left rotting in the streets. Workers went on strike over the council's decision to abolish its waste recycling and collection officer role, which is responsible for safety at the back of a refuse lorry. The council has been under Labour control since 2012 and declared effective bankruptcy in September 2023 as it attempted to juggle a £760 million equal pay bill and an £80 million overspend on an IT project. John Cotton, the authority's leader, has received more than £1,500 worth of freebies since he took charge in May 2023. This has included tickets to the musicals Wicked and Hamilton, along with a ticket worth £125 to watch England against the West Indies from the chair's lounge at Edgbaston cricket ground. Majid Mahmood, the cabinet member in charge of waste services, has also received hundreds of pounds worth of tickets for cricket games in the past two years. This included tickets to the T20 Vitality Blast final at Edgbaston in September. He did not declare a specific value but hospitality tickets for the game retailed at £359. Kevin Hollinrake, the shadow business secretary, said: 'Labour councillors living it up on freebies and awarding themselves bumper pay rises, paid for by the local residents who suffer rat-infested rubbish piling high on their streets, tells you everything you need to know about Labour-run councils. 'Meanwhile, the Government continues to sit on its hands, turning a blind eye to the Unite strike barons who are holding the city's refuse services hostage, all because of the tens of millions of pounds that this union has funnelled to the Labour Party and their top team.' Birmingham city council has been contacted for comment.
