35% Council Tax hike covers for waste and incompetence
Since they were elected in 2002, Lambeth Lib Dems & Tory Coallition has increased council tax by 35%. Over their four years in power the average Lambeth resident will have paid at least £706 in extra council tax. This year’s increase of 3.9%, minus the mayor’s precept, was announced at this week’s Council Executive taking took them to the 35% since 2002. The increase comes despite the council receiving a £27million windfall payment from the Government which came to light following the discovery of an accounting error. With so much new money coming in, Labour Councillors believe there is no excuse for the shocking council tax hikes we've seen over the past three years. The Lib Dems and Tories have failed to get to grips with Lambeth Council’s problems. Their budget this year is littered with waste, incompetence and problems they have failed to resolve. 20.4% of all staff at Lambeth council are agency staff. It costs £4000 more to employ one person from an agency than it does to employ directly. This year’s budget also includes huge increases in parking bureaucracy to support the infamous parking contract with Control Plus. Another example of their failure to deal with serious problems is that 150 pupils are still out of school, two years after Labour highlighted the problem. Councillor Dan Sabbagh, Labour’s Lead spokesperson on Finance said: “People have paid £706 more under Lib Dems and Tories. The question residents should ask is, ‘Have Lambeth’s services improved dramatically since 2002?’ Clearly the answer is no.” “We think Lambeth is not delivering value
for money. Labour would not ask people to pay so much more for so little.”
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