Local Government Revenue Settlement

December 1, 2010

The title sounds boring, but the Local Government Revenue Settlement affects all our lives.

This is the sum of money that the Assembly government gives to local authorities each year. Local authorities (Powys County Council in our case) then have to fund the services for which they are responsible,  which include schools and education, social care services, roads, waste collections, street lighting, leisure services, tourism and planning and so on.

Last week the Assembly government published the provisional Local Government Revenue Settlement. Each year Powys County Council has traditionally received a very poor settlement, and normally receives amongst the poorest settlement of all the 22 Welsh local government authorities.
 
But this year, rather than just receiving only a small increase, Powys County Council has been given a decrease in funding of 1.2%, and if you take into account inflation, the reduction is of course greater.
 
This is all still early and the devil will be in the detail. No matter how much gloss and spin the Assembly Government try to put on these proposals, there is no taking away from the fact that this is a very tough settlement indeed and difficult times for the council and people of Powys lie ahead. The challenge for the authority is to now find ways of retaining and improving local services and to find more efficient ways of delivering them.

In my view the Assembly Government should get its priorities right and support local councils to protect frontline services, freezing public sector pay for high earners and tackling the tens of millions wasted on unnecessary bureaucracy, including a £2.5million bill for loose furnishings at WAG offices!

2 Comments | budget, council tax, welsh assembly | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by russellgeorge

Empty shops, premises and industrial units in Montgomeryshire

November 2, 2010

Small and independent businesses have been let down by the Welsh Assembly Government. In my view, the WAG have failed to help businesses through the recent recession. It’s disappointing that measures to help small businesses have just not come forward.

I believe that small businesses are the backbone of our economy. I was part of an announcement today by my party in Wales announcing some news to help businesses. The proposals by my party in Wales would mean that 5,383 small business properties in Powys would pay no business rates at all, thus encouraging local enterprise.

Under the new proposals, businesses with a rateable value of up to £12,000 would not pay any business rates. Rates would be tapered for small businesses with rateable values between £12,001 and £15,000, thereby reducing bills for a further 251 small firms in Powys.

The Welsh Conservative proposals to cut business rates will help our small businesses ride out the current economic downturn and encourage small business start-ups by giving people the confidence to invest. These proposals would provide a considerable boost to the local economy and help fill empty shops and industrial units in Welshpool and Newtown. Of course, for this proposal to come into being, the Welsh Conservatives need to get into government next year in the Welsh Assembly.

2 Comments | business, conservatives, council tax, employment, montgomeryshire conservatives, newtown, shopping, welsh assembly, welsh conservatives | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by russellgeorge

Spending Review

October 20, 2010

I had the spending review on in the background as I worked in my office this afternoon!

I thought that today’s announcements did provide Wales with a far better settlement than had been expected.

The Assembly Government had been preparing for a bigger reduction than the one announced. The Business Minister had been planning for reductions of £500 million year on year. Instead, the Assembly Government will have to find savings of £500 million over the next four years in total.

I do find it unbelievable the way that Labour are reacting. They brought the UK to the brink of bankruptcy.  If Labour object to the way the coalition is reducing the deficit, they should come up with their own deficit reduction plan to explain how they would have implemented the 20% cuts they were planning before the election.

Anyway, need to digest all what has been announced today.

Leave a Comment » | business, council tax, welsh assembly | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by russellgeorge

Keeping Montgomeryshire Tidy

August 23, 2010

Part of the team that took part in the litter pick

Keep Wales Tidy has just released the results of their latest inspection of the standards of cleanliness of Powys streets. The latest inspection revealed no litter at all or predominantly free of litter. Tidy town funding is used to support  local community groups with activities such as litter picking days, area clean ups, clearing of overgrown areas etc.

I started to get involved in this scheme in Newtown this year. Last month I was part of a team that spent a morning collecting litter on the Vaynor estate, and this Saturday I organized a litter pick and clean up on the Trehafren estate.

Other than the rain (which started half way though this Saturday’s litter pick) I have  enjoyed being involved in this project; it gives a real sense of achievement and encourages community spirit. I have also been really pleased with the amount of people that turned out at the events we have organized.

I have also been concerned that fly tipping was becoming a problem in some areas, so we had organized a skip for the day that was freely available to all residents to make use off – On both occasions the skip was full within just a few hours.

Interestingly, in advertizing the scheme, one resident text me – “Regarding your recent mailshot about tidy and litter pick, surely this is what taxes are paid for!?”  My own view is that the person that text me missed the point. This is about people pulling together to make our communities better places to live, not just expecting authorities and others to do everything for us. We are increasingly becoming a selfish society, looking for people to blame and not wanting to take responsibility ourselves. I would be interested to know what other people’s views are.

Leave a Comment » | council tax, environment, leisure, newtown | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by russellgeorge

Council tax increase – and I voted for it!

February 4, 2010

Well, what did happen on the council tax increase debate? The answer is that it is going to be an increase of 4.25% and what is surprising is that I voted for it!

One of my reasons for standing for election to the County Council two years ago was due to my frustrations in council and business tax going up each year, but the services we receive going down.

Last year, I voted against the 2.99% council tax increase, and supported the Conservatives proposals for just a 2% increase.

Taking into account that inflation is very low at present, the proposed increase of 4.25% seemed high in real terms. Under normal circumstances, I could never support such a high council tax increase, but at last weeks meeting I did support and vote for the 4.25%. I supported this with difficulty as I do find it hard to justify when people have either lost their jobs or are seeing a small increase in there wage packets.

When the 4.25% proposal was first brought forward a few weeks earlier at the council’s board, I didn’t support the increase.

This year’s council budget does seem to be designed to boost reserves, as the belt tightens on Council spending. To maintain much needed investment in our schools is my main reason for supporting this year’s increase.

Let’s not forget that following the forthcoming general election spending cuts will be inevitable whoever wins, and saving our secondary schools and other services, where we can, appears to me to be a valid cause.

Leave a Comment » | conservatives, council tax, councillors, powys county council, public services, taxes, welsh conservatives | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by russellgeorge

Dark days: streetlighting update

September 28, 2008

The council has already started the big ‘switch off’ across the county, where in most areas, two out of three streetlights are being switched off.

This has all come about as a result of a massive increase in the cost of energy, as the council attempts to manage its budget. The policy will also cut the council’s carbon footprint by over 1,000 tonnes a year, although let’s make no mistake, this is a cost-saving exercise.

The expected date for the Newtown switch off to commence is October 29th, one of the last areas across the county.

I am against turning off streetlights in areas where there are known problems. It also frustrates me to think of streetlights being purchased and installed, then not being used.

However, I also believe that across the country there are areas with more streetlighting than is always necessary.

According to the original plan, some streetlights will not be turned off. These include those in sensitive areas covered by CCTV, pedestrian crossings, areas near hospitals, sheltered housing and where there are known problems.

On this basis I am supportive of the decision as I fear the alternative would have been to pass the increased cost onto the council tax payer which I could not support.

Last month, the electricity contract for my business came to an end. The increase in cost in my new contract was huge; I had not anticipated the extra charges or budgeted for them at the beginning of the year.

I do believe that it is wrong that some are choosing to scaremonger about the crime and safety issues. My other concern is regarding the identification of areas where there are known problems.

In my ward there are a number of known crime hot spots. I met with the neighbourhood police unit on Friday and although they were able to indicate areas of known crime to me, the information they could offer me was limited.

I now intend to talk to the council’s safety officer to find out exactly how, as a council, we are identifying the ‘known problems’ areas across the county.

The streetlights policy is a correct one, as long as it carried out sensitively and according to the original agreement.

1 Comment | council tax, councillors, environment, issues, newtown, street lighting, taxes | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by russellgeorge

Newtown taxes to increase for low paid workers

April 21, 2008

I can’t understand how anyone can say that removing the 10p tax band will help anyone. Newtown is one of the lowest paid areas in the UK and those on lowest pay will certainly find themselves paying much more tax.

This is just another way through the back door of taking more money from the average hard working person. When Gordon Brown announced the reduction in the basic rate from 22% to 20% and then abolished the 10p tax band, it was obvious to that everyone would be worse off. But what’s frustrating is that on announcing this he presented it as good for the average hard-working person!

So many people I have spoken to this week have aired there dissatisfaction of Labour, and I’m finding great support with people telling me there going to vote Conservative for the first time.

Council tax is of course another hot issue. The Lib Dems in Powys want to scrap council tax and replace it with a tax-per-person system. If this comes about I fear that the average paid workers in Powys will be paying even more.

The Conservatives pledge to introduce a system that places the control of council tax into our hands. My party will call for a referendum if our council wants to put up council tax by any significant amount. This will effectively make our council have to put forward a strong case to justify any large increase if they want us, the people of Powys, to vote for it.

It’s a disgrace that people who earn next to nothing are going to subsidise the 2p tax cut for people who earn more than they do. We are paying too much tax for too little in return and from the conversations I’ve had with people in Newtown this week I believe the public are finally realising it.

Leave a Comment » | conservatives, council tax, elections, issues, newtown, powys county council, taxes | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by russellgeorge

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