Mark Spencer MP raises questions over decision by local Labour authorities to raise Council Tax

I was disappointed but not surprised to see that Labour controlled Nottinghamshire County Council have put their council tax up, I thought with all the noise that the Labour Party are making on the cost of living it is odd that they would take more money off hardworking people, but that is exactly what they are doing.

Labour controlled Ashfield District Council have also increased their council tax however Conservative controlled Newark and Sherwood have not. I believe actions speak louder than words and that tells you all you need to know.

Lots of people tell me, on the doorstep in Hucknall, their weekly bills are having an impact on their lives. We have had a long period of rising costs, food, petrol and energy are the obvious ones. With wages now only just beginning to catch up, this has left many people under pressure in their family budgets.

Action our Government has taken means the economy is recovering, jobs and apprenticeships are more available, unemployment is down and economic growth is up. The point at which you start to pay income tax also continues to rise. The government has just announced that you can now earn £10,500 per year without paying a penny of income tax.

This is positive, however the most important thing for me is to make sure my constituents have more money in their pockets, more work prospects and the chance to make the best of themselves.

Most of our Labour controlled councils have just put the council tax up by 1.99 per cent. This is no coincidence, Eric Pickles, Minister for Local Government said they can increase by what they want, but over 2 per cent triggers a local referendum. He went on to say any council not increasing Council Tax will get a 1 per cent increase in their budget. This means those councils putting up our costs are doing it to gain less than 1 per cent revenue by costing us 2 per cent increase.

Under four years of Conservative control Nottinghamshire County Council raised their council tax by ZERO, yet under Labour we have an increase.

It is clear the Government are fixing the economy, creating jobs, funding apprenticeships, lowering tax, investing in our NHS and protecting our pensions.

The Labour Party are criticising the Government about the cost of living crisis yet raising the taxes of hardworking people and hoping they won’t notice, Well we have noticed. I always judge people on what they do rather than what they say.

As always if you would like to chat to me or have any issues or queries please drop me an email at [email protected] or call my office on 0115 968 1186.