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Gordon Brown asked to think again
Ref : 07/128 : Date : 18-12-2007
Adur’s estimated council tax rise this year of 4.3per cent will all be spent to fund free bus travel for people aged 60 and over.
The government have announced the grant local authorities will get next year and although it is slightly better than expected, there’s still a financial black hole to fill.
A letter being sent to Gordon Brown from Adur’s Council Leader Neil Parkin makes it clear that although the council is fully in favour of this service it should be funded fully and fairly. The council wants pound for pound spent on free travel to be reimbursed back to local authorities.
Adur’s Council Leader, Neil Parkin said: “We plan to continue to lobby the government and urge them to reconsider the arrangements they have for funding this service. If it hadn’t been for this we could have been looking at a possible 0 per cent increase in council tax.”
Latest cost projections show that the new national scheme will increase costs in Sussex alone by over £8million. This translates into a cost of well over £400 million for the whole of England compared to funding provided of £212million.
For Adur this means an increased cost of £405,000 just to implement the national minimum scheme. This compares with a proposed grant of £167,000, leaving a shortfall of £238,000. This is the equivalent of a 4.3 per cent rise in council tax.
The council is now faced with making additional savings and possible cuts in services to balance the books and keep council tax to below the capping rate of 5 per cent.
Ends
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