Tory Plans Could Double Eastleigh's Council Tax To More Than £2,000

3.57.59pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 10th Feb 2004

Hampshire MEP Chris Huhne said that the Conservatives' failure to join the opposition to the Council tax was 'damaging and suspicious'.

He pointed out that the Tory Shadow Chancellor Oliver Letwin has said that they want to double the amount of money raised locally, which would double council tax bills unless alternative local taxes are put forward.

The Liberal Democrats have highlighted the issue by holding a House of Commons Opposition day debate on scrapping council tax today (Tuesday 10th February).

Chris Huhne MEP, the Liberal Democrats' prospective parliamentary candidate for Eastleigh, called on the Conservatives to "join the council tax opposition" or reveal what their intentions are for council tax, adding: "Liberal Democrats are leading the fight against this unfair council tax, but we'd be happy for the Conservatives to join the council tax opposition. The Conservatives' failure to be more robust on council tax is both damaging to the fight and frankly suspicious.

"The only indication of a fledgling Conservative policy is Oliver Letwin's statement that the Tories would increase the revenue councils raised locally and keep council tax. Unless the Conservative Shadow Chancellor can explain himself, this implies the Tories could double council tax.

"By doubling council tax, the Conservatives would take us back to the days of the unfair poll tax. It's time the Tories junked their addiction to unfair taxes. Liberal Democrats have set out our alternative to council tax. It's time for the Conservatives to come clean."

Mr Huhne pointed out that the new Conservative leader, Mr Michael Howard, had a disastrously unfair record of local taxes. He was the junior minister at the Department of the Environment in charge of the launch of the poll tax (Community Charge) and was then the Secretary of State at the time of its replacement with the unfair Council tax.

Notes to Editors

TORIES TO DOUBLE COUNCIL TAX?

"In the short term, [Oliver Letwin] said, they would come up with some answers to the problems caused by soaring council tax bills, which rose by an unprecedented average of 13 per cent this year. The Tories may propose that the share of council budgets raised locally is increased from 25 per cent to more than 50 per cent and the council tax is likely to remain under their plans." Oliver Letwin, as reported in The Independent 10, December 2003.

So what you would pay, if the Conservatives "double Council Tax"?

Average Band D Council Tax New Tory rate

Hampshire 2003-4 £1083.35 £2167.70

Eastleigh 2003-4 £1,084.77 £2,169.54

England £1,102 £2,204

The South East £1,098 £2,196

Source: ODPM, HCC and EBC

The Audit Commission has implicitly rubbished the Conservative plans: "Altering the balance of funding between national and local sources of finance cannot be achieved by simply transferring costs from national taxation to council tax. This would only ...increase the council tax even further." (Audit Commission, Council Tax Increases 2003/04: Why were they so high? 04 December 2003).

Ends