Labour councillor takes residents' tax worries
to Cabinet Minister
|
 Councillor Mark Bennett met with David Miliband MP |
Streatham South Labour Councillor Mark Bennett
has met Labour's Minister of Communities and Local Government, the Rt
Hon David Miliband MP, to voice residents' concerns about the high level
of council tax in Lambeth.
As a result, the Cabinet Minister is planning to visit Lambeth to hear
residents' concerns directly.
Cllr Bennett told the minister:
"Many people in Streatham South are struggling to pay their council
tax. Across the borough, it is causing real hardship. Lambeth's council
tax has jumped by 35% since the Liberals and Conservatives took control
in 2002 - on a promise of no tax rises without a referendum. What happened
to the referendum? Like so many Lib Dem promises, nothing.
"Three and a half years on, Lambeth council is still rated as one
of the worst councils in London. Local people have seen millions of pounds
being spent on luxury riverside offices or stuffed into the pockets of
a fraudster. Meanwhile, many hundreds of thousands more have been spent
on paying off the former chief executive and tarting up the town hall.
You can see exactly where Lib Dem priorities lie."
David Miliband said:
"Mark Bennett is a proven campaigner who gets to the heart of local
issues. He is right to put value for money and efficiency high up his
agenda.
"Every council has seen significant grant increases over the last
eight years, and there is now more stability in budgets thanks to funding
reforms.
"The Government does not believe revaluation will happen this Parliament
and we want every local authority to use the stable financial situation
to deliver high quality and high efficiency. There is no excuse for waste
or tax hikes.
"I know that in his short time on Lambeth Council, Mark Bennett has
shown an absolute determination to get better services and better value
for money for residents, and I look forward to working with him and his
Labour colleagues in the future."
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