All-Party proposals from the DCLG Select Committee to create a Local Income Tax have been warmly welcomed by the Leader of the Liberal Democrats in Local Government. 

Cllr Richard Kemp said:

“Local government finance is badly in need of reform.  Yet, up to now both Conservative and Labour Parties have run scared of making the fundamental changes so badly needed.

“Now the Select Committee has bravely, and with all party support, put their head above the parapet and urged a local income tax which is the only fair and transparent way of raising the money needed to fund local services from local residents.

“It is particularly important that this proposal has been published at a time when Westminster politics is held in such disrepute.  One of the major ways of cleaning up Westminster is to transfer a lot of its powers and responsibilities to a local level where people can influence decisions more and create their own priorities for service delivery. That can only be done if councils have a much more open hand in setting their own budgets and have their sources of income separate from the grant giving handouts of the Whitehall machinery.

“I wouldn’t just add another tax to the public burden, but the consensus for local income tax is good starter for 10!”

Earlier this year Waltham Forest Lib Dem leader John Macklin used his speech at the Council’s budget setting meeting to criticise the Government’s funding of local councils as “completely outdated, both for thre role local authorities are expected to play and the service we want to provide at a local level”.

The Lib Dems kept their promise of restricting the local Council tax rise to under 2.5%, a figure that has never been exceeded since the Lib Dems became involved in the Council administration.

To read more of Cllr Macklin’s budget speech click here.