Keep Down the Council Tax say Lib Dems

10.11.43pm GMT Tue 1st Feb 2005

Lib Dems propose lower Council Tax than Tories and also funding to tackle anti-social behaviour

The Liberal Democrat Opposition on Northampton Borough Council is calling for a Council Tax increase of no more than the level of inflation. 'The Tories claim to be the low tax party, but they want to put up Northampton Borough Council's share of the council tax by 4.9%, breaking their promise to voters at the last election', said Richard Church.

Liberal Democrats in government would scrap the council tax as it places an unfair burden on pensioners and people on low incomes. 'With the Council's reserves forecast to rise, the Tory increase is unjustified' said Richard Church, 'We will be proposing at the council meeting on Thursday that the increase should be no more than 3%.'

The Lib Dems budget also plans improvements in services provided to Northampton's citizens, building on our proposal which led to the introduction of neighbourhood wardens last year. We will provide additional targeted spending to tackle antisocial behaviour and graffiti, and to improve the Town Centre. 'Graffiti litter and fly tipping are major problems which blight the quality of the local environment', said Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Andrew Simpson. 'We are proposing the creation of an enforcement and education fund of £150,000 to support the work of neighbourhood wardens and the police in securing the successful prosecution of fly tippers, litterbugs and vandals, and to educate and inform people on the consequences of their actions. We will also speed up the deployment of neighbourhood wardens so that more of the town can benefit from their work.'

We are proposing to invest £100,000 to investigate and initiate long term improvements to the town centre, and to encourage business investment in the town centre through the Business Improvement District proposal. The town centre is vital to the town's economy, we must ensure that it is an attractive and vibrant place for shopping, leisure and entertainment.

The Lib Dems will fund their proposals by seeking improved savings from the 'root and branch' review of the council's present deployment of staff, and savings from improved sickness management. 'We are looking to deploy our staff more effectively to deliver the priorities of the council', concluded Richard Church, 'while recognising that we cannot increase the burden of the council tax.'