Conservatives criticise Brighton and Hove Greens’ council tax rise and referendum plan
Conservative politicians have criticised Green proposals to put up council tax in Brighton and Hove by 4.75 per cent and hold a referendum to ratify the rise.
Councillor Geoffrey Theobald, who leads the Tory opposition on Brighton and Hove City Council, said: “This is an irresponsible political stunt – a desperate last-minute bid by the Green leadership to appease members of the Green group who would have voted against their original budget proposals.
“The Greens quite clearly don’t have the best interests of hard-working council taxpayers in mind.
“They know full well that residents will not go along with this if it comes down to a public referendum – 4.75 per cent is more than double the rate of inflation and just cannot be justified.
Councillor Geoffrey Theobald
“4.75 per cent would be the highest council tax increase in the country and would take us back to the bad old days of double-digit increases imposed on residents by the last city council Labour administration.
“We have consistently opposed council tax rises and will continue to push for a freeze.
“The government has offered councils extra money to enable them to freeze council tax and it is simply perverse of the Green administration, backed last year by the Labour group, to continue turning it down.
“There is simply no need for the Greens to be going down this path. There is still plenty of scope to improve services without going cap in hand to the taxpayer.
“The council’s independent auditors continue to say that our services are expensive compared to other similar councils.
“For example, council officers stated in a recent committee report that adult social care services delivered by in-house council staff generally do not deliver value for money compared to those delivered by the independent and voluntary sector.
“Yet the Green administration, with backing from the Labour group, is choosing to ignore their own officers’ advice.
“The Greens are claiming that they don’t have enough money to deliver services for the vulnerable yet they are prepared to blow a six-figure sum on holding a referendum which in all probability they will lose.
“In relation to the vote of no confidence, we have yet to see the Labour group proposal.
“We are just over a year away from the next local elections which is really the proper time for the electorate to make their judgments.
“However, when we get sight of the Labour group’s motion, we will come to a group decision.”
Simon Kirby, the Conservative MP for Brighton Kemptown, described the Green Party proposal to put up council tax in Brighton and Hove by 4.75 per cent as irresponsible and a costly gimmick.
Mr Kirby said: “The previous Labour administration doubled council tax but I would call on Labour councillors to now abandon their previous policy of supporting council tax increases in the city and join with the Conservatives in opposing this huge hike.
“Council tax is one of the biggest bills faced by many of my constituents and this plan by the Green administration for an eye-watering 4.75 per cent rise in bills is outrageous.”
“The government is doing all it can to help people with the cost of living, for instance by lifting 2.4 million of the lowest earners out of income tax altogether, reducing the average taxpayers’ bill by £700 and cutting fuel duty.
Mike Weatherley
“It is also investing in the pupil premium and increasing spending on the NHS while reducing the biggest peace-time deficit in a hundred years.
“If the government can manage to take such proactive measures to help hardworking residents then the city council should be doing the same here in Brighton.”
“Due to government regulations aimed at preventing excessive council tax increases, the Green administration would be forced to put this proposal to a referendum, which it is estimated would cost local taxpayers over £200,000.”
Mr Kirby added: “We don’t need an expensive referendum to know that residents in the city would prefer to see the city council tackling the waste and inefficiencies within the council itself before demanding even more money from local residents.
“I am sure that residents would prefer to see council tax frozen when they are already contributing £18 million in parking charges to the city council in the last year alone.”
Mike Weatherley, the Conservative MP for Hove, also criticised the Green Party’s plans.
He said that the proposed 4.75 per cent rise in council tax announced by the Greens would be the highest rise in the country.
To push through a tax rise this high, a referendum of Brighton and Hove residents must be held, Mr Weatherley said.
He added that the proposal by the Green administration to raise council tax could cost local taxpayers almost £250,000 – the cost of holding a referendum.
Mr Weatherley said: “The Green administration really is in for a shock as it prepares to waste an inordinate amount of money on a referendum to see if the residents of Brighton and Hove wish to pay more tax.
“Any budgetary problems that Brighton and Hove City Council has are down to waste, spending priorities and gross mismanagement.
“Throwing more hardworking taxpayers’ money at the Greens’ inability to manage the city certainly won’t fix things.”
He added: “If the referendum on more taxes does go ahead, it will be a referendum on the Greens’ popularity in Brighton and Hove.
“Given the disdain that residents have expressed at debacles such as bins not being collected, blanket 20mph speed limits, sky-high parking charges and a failure to tackle major projects, my constituents will not be happy.
“A tax rise like this is an affront to hard-pressed families and pensioners. The Greens are showing incredible arrogance to ask residents to pay for their mismanagement.”
