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Tax frozen as fees rise... has easyCouncil arrived?
FINANCE chiefs have denied they are moving Camden towards a Barnet-style “easyCouncil” as a headline freeze on council tax masks hikes in fees for school dinners, libraries and children’s sports.
The Lib Dem-Conservative administration running Camden this week pledged another council tax freeze in their April, pre-election budget, which would mean a third zero per cent rise in as many years.
But lunch costs for primary and special school children, fees for sports facilities, including those for under-fives, and a raft of library charges, including talking book hire, are all due to rise by several times the rate of inflation.
Labour opposition leader Councillor Nash Ali said: “The costs of fees have substantially risen under this budget, and some of these charges are going to really heavily impact on families. It is done in an underhand way – people see the tax freeze but don’t see the full small print until they go to use the services.”
Conservative-run Barnet Council is introducing a pay-as-you-go model of low council taxes and high fees, dubbed “easyCouncil” because of resemblances to the no-frills easyJet airline which keeps fares low by charging passengers for extras.
But Lib Dem finance chief Councillor Ralph Scott said the Town Hall had made “difficult decisions” to get the tax freeze.
He added: “Council tax does fall heaviest on those least able to pay it, and the majority of Camden residents will be better off. The freezes in council tax we have delivered have by and large come without pain to the taxpayer because we have cut out a lot of waste.
“But the state of the economy does mean we’re going to be very stretched going forward. The blanket rise in fees is 2.5 per cent across the board, but there are concessions available to those people who aren’t able to pay the full charges.”
The Town Hall’s medium-term financial strategy, discussed by councillors this week, reveals deep uncertainties about future funding amid recession pressures.
Government grants are guaranteed until 2011, but could fall sharply thereafter, with finance experts identifying schools, crime and social services budgets as vulnerable to future cuts.
Fees, which brought in £81million last year, and parking charges, which have been in drastic decline, are seen as secure sources of Town Hall income that cannot be cut by a cash-strapped central government.
What you will pay...
• School meals: up from £1.90 to £1.95 per day.
• Talacre and Swiss Cottage sports centres: up by as much as 17 per cent.
• Pest control: cost of controlling bed bugs or fleas up 32 per cent.
• Talking book hire: up from 50p in 2008 to 60p in 2010, a 20 per cent rise in two years. |
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