G.Sellars
Administrator
Joined: 29/August/2003
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 16
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| Posted: 06/December/2003 at 18:18 | IP Logged
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It appears that Mr Prescott is to blame for the huge council tax rises of last year.
That bain of the government, the independent spending watchdog, The Audit Commission, has concluded that Downing Street's handling of local government finance has been 'fundamentally flawed'.
Chairman of the Commission, James Strachan, criticised Prescott's department saying: "The funding system lacks transparency. Moreover, the balance of the funding - with only 25 per cent raised locally - amplifies the effect of any disagreements over local budgets between central and local government."
The debate over who was to blame for the record rises in council taxes has been raging on for months with both Number 10 and local authorities blaming each other.
The Audit Commission's report reveals that council tax rises were higher in the south, where lower government grant increases were given. In the predominantly Labour-held Midlands and Northern authorities, higher grant increases were provided leading to lower rises in council tax.
Increases averaged around 16 per cent in the south of the country as opposed to 8 per cent in the north.
All this was down to Prescott and his junior minister Nick Raynsford revising the Treasury grants to local authorities in favour of Labour-held constituencies.
As a conservative 'stronghold' was Macclesfield singled out?
Next year further average rises of 8 per cent nationally are expected. What's the betting that Macclesfield's rises are higher!
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Community Online : Macclesfield Council
Topic: Council Tax rises? Again!
