TORIES DEMAND MAXIMUM COUNCIL TAX HIKE DESPITE ABOVE INFLATION GOVERNMENT SETTLEMENT

The Labour Government financial settlement for Kent County Council shows a £40m increase over the previous year of +4.2%. Yet at a press conference today the Tory administration claimed that it was necessary to increase Council Tax by 4.95% because the Government had supposedly cut back their grant by a fantasy figure of -5.3%.

This artificially contrived figure of -5.3% can only be calculated by using data which does not compare like with like and by taking an element of the core funding which represents less than a quarter of the total sum made available to Kent County Council. For example, it excludes education which has received a generous 5.6% increase thereby showing once again the Labour Government's commitment to education.

Mike Eddy, Shadow Leader of Kent County Council, says:

"The 4.2% increase in Government funding for 2007/2008 continues the trend of above inflation settlements that have been the norm under Labour in recent years. This compares with the continued below inflation cutbacks under the last Tory Government.

"The problem is the real need of the Tories at County Hall to offset the needless waste of resources ranging from a few hundred thousand pounds on unnecessary trips abroad to millions of pounds on the original aborted Turner Centre project and on an expensive reorganisation of Kent Highways. Council Tax would have been higher if the Labour Government hadn't insisted that Kent County Council keep within the 5% limit."

Derek Smyth, Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance, says:

"It is clear that the Tories are out to justify their 4.95% increase in Council Tax by diverting attention from the waste of resources and instead making unsupported claims of Government stinginess.

"The Tories are whingeing incessantly about being a floor authority and that funds are moving up North. What they fail to point out is that the floor means they receive more than their strict due and that County Councils up North have been top sliced to pay for Kent. Far from complaining, they should be expressing thanks to the Councils who are making sacrifices to help Kent next year."