Two stories in the papers today come from the ring top circuses of Herefordshire county council and Three Rivers council.  They defy belief.

Herefordshire resident Brian Hubbard has been ordered to stop cutting a grass verge outside his home because it makes the road look ‘too tidy’.  In addition to cutting the verge, he picks up the litter and cleans up grass cuttings left by council grass-cutters.  Clearly providing a better service, at no cost to fellow taxpayers, Herefordshire council have ordered him to stop.

Mr Hubbard received a letter from the council accusing him of ‘encroaching on council land’.  Council land!  Christ, if ever there were awards for public sector arrogance, Herefordshire council would sweep the board.  Here is a ripe opportunity for the council to save money and agree with Mr Hubbard to let him tend to a piece of land at no cost to the taxpayer and they turn their nose up.   

Kindly email the leader of Herefordshire county council, R J Phillips, and tell him to leave Mr Hubbard alone and appreciate the fact that someone has taken the task of helping their local community.  You can email Cllr. Phillips through his council email address here: [email protected].  It also might be worth suggesting that if Herefordshire were more accommodating to cost cutting measures they could find a way to lower council tax next year.

The next story reveals how councils just don’t operate in the real world.  Three Rivers council in Hertfordshire is allowing a senior officer a day off a week to enjoy his passion for music whilst keeping him on his ‘full time’ salary of £116,000.  Usually, if you work less you should be paid less.  Not so in local government.  Leader of Three Rivers council, Cllr Anne Shaw, claims that allowing Stephen Halls a day off to pursue a musical interest is cheaper than sourcing and paying his replacement even more!! 

Perhaps Three Rivers residents should allow Cllr Shaw more time for her to pursue her interests by throwing her ignorant, ramshackle popinjay attitude out of the council.  We’re standing on the brink of a recession where you, me and everyone else in the real world will have to work longer hours and harder than we ever have.  People face rising unemployment and fragile job security.  Yet Cllr Shaw and her incompetent crop of councillors in the Lib Dem group who support her believe you should pay for an officer’s day off to listen to Mozart.  I know I write this all the time, but I encourage you to inform Cllr Shaw how wrong she is and we do not pay our taxes so that officers can take days off to learn the recorder.  Please send your emails to Cllr Shaw at: [email protected]. 

If you’ve ever wondered what happens to the vast amounts of taxpayers’ money that flows into the EU, read this and weep:

The EU, eager to improve the lives of the 7.5 million Bulgarians, dangled €11 billion, or nearly $15 billion, in aid. Far from halting crime and violence, the money effectively spread the corruption. Once Bulgaria’s shady business types realized how much EU money was at stake, said many of Sofia’s anti-corruption reformers, they moved from buying off politicians directly into politics.

Isn’t it wonderful, the European Union? Today it’s in your pay packet, tomorrow it’s in the pockets of a Sofia "thickneck" and his murderous chums. As Tommy Cooper would say, "Just like that."

Powys Council and others, sadly, have taken the drastic step of turning street lights off during the night to save money as well as energy.  Despite the best of intentions, a story in the Daily Express today – not online – reveals some unfortunate unintended consequences.

The effects of the scheme were felt by disabled Powys resident Audrey Powell who said the switch-off leaves her too afraid to go out of an evening.  She has good reason too as the article also notes that when a trial switch-off was piloted in Essex, vandals caused £2,000 worth of damage in a vandalism spree. 

Fear of crime and anti social behaviour are already rife among the vulnerable that a light switch-off can only add to the anxiety.  It’s akin to giving residents a curfew.  When the lights go off, you go home.  But as usual the law abiding public obey the law.  How are people, especially in rural areas like Powys, expected to spot criminal behaviour or identify the perpetrators of anti social behaviour? 

Please do write to the leader of Powys Council, Cllr E. Michael Jones ([email protected]), and ask him to reconsider the switch off.  The trial has been completed and it’s left the most vulnerable afraid to leave their homes.  Local government is about basic service delivery, the lights, bins and parks.  Urge Cllr. Jones to cut back on their bureaucracy and waste – as we set out in our Ten Per Cent Challenge – and to turn the lights back on in Powys.

News broke yesterday that another disgraceful and dangerous loss of data had taken place at the MoD. The personal details of up to 1.7 million people who had applied to join the armed forces have been stolen. Even more astoundingly, particularly for a military department, it’s "unlikely" that the data was encrypted.

And, it seems, the more willing you were to fight for Queen and country, the more you will be affected. If casual enquiries were made, only a name and contact details would have been stored, but if you completed a full application (presumably a sensible thing to do if you wanted to get in) then the full shebang is out there: your national insurance and passport numbers, your driving licence details, even your bank account.

The MoD has said it is "shocked" at the loss – but this is simply not good enough, and I imagine this will be scant consolation to those who are now looking identity theft and fraud (or worse) straight in the face.

Coming in the wake of the theft of 658 laptops and 26 memory sticks that were lost a mere 3 months ago, serious questions need to be asked about how and why the MoD is storing data. If you are applying to enter the armed forces – only applying mind, you haven’t actually joined up – then why oh why do they need your bank details? Or your driving licence AND passport number AND national insurance? And then why tempt fate by centralising it and storing it all in one place, not just in one office but on one, singular, solitary hard drive?

Gathering this amount of information represents ludicrous overkill, and storing it in this manner is naive to the point of idiocy. With all the external threats our armed forces face, do we want to help our enemies by not only telling them what part of the armed services they’re going into, but also the home address of their family, where and how they store their money and any other information that might be helpful?

Any loss of data is seriously negligent, but when it is military information the effects can be disasterous. If I was thinking about joining up, this latest episode in the saga of incompetence on the part of the state would not inspire me with great confidence that they were going to look after me. If they can’t even protect my name and address, how are they going to protect me? 

The Telegraph reports today that inflation will reach 5%.  With an interest rate cut, you could expect that.  The reason I point this out in this news cycle to trump all news cycles is that we’ve recently been lobbying council leaders to advocate an absolute freeze in council tax rates or at best a council tax cut.

Some of the responses we’re already hearing are the same old “we’ll keep increases as low as possible” or “we’ll increase council tax in line with inflation”.  Aha!  See the problem for councils who want to hike tax in line with inflation comes when inflation exceeds 5% because the government have threatened to cap any council tax increase at 5%.

The choice therefore is between councils cutting non-essential spending, reining in the growth of their middle management and politically correct non-jobbers or playing the blame game, scaremongering about frontline service cuts and accusing the government of not supplying enough of a grant.  Given the track record of our esteemed Town Hall establishment, what option do you think they will take?

I make this point to stress the important of our lobbying campaign to get councils to cut back before cutting into our pay packets with their extreme taxes.  Please do get writing and contacting your councillors to keep up the fight against high council tax.  You can join in our grassroots lobby here and here.

We often draw attention to the way that some people get rewarded for doing a bad job – which is bad enough – but there is another, even more unjust, side to Government in play, too: punishing people for doing a good job. A prime example is in the news this week with the EU fining the taxpayers of seven countries for producing too much milk.

Yes, that’s right – with food prices running high and rising, and taxpayers and governments alike strapped for cash, the EU is levying total fines of 340 million euros (£264 million) for farmers doing their job too well.

You would have thought that given the fact people in the EU are struggling to pay their household food bills, and of course the further fact that there are external markets crying out for affordable food, that dairy farmers could expect a pat on the back for being so good at production. The idea that taxpayers in Italy, Austria, Cyprus, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands are going to be actively punished for the success of the industry is obscene – particularly in the current climate.

Just because British taxpayers haven’t been fined on this occasion, doesn’t mean it doesn’t concern us, either. The only reason we aren’t being made to cough up is that our farmers are restricting the size of their business or even in some cases pouring milk down the drain. How can it possibly be a good idea to spend millions on eurocrats whose job it is to restrict the size of the farming sector, hold down the food supply and fine innocent taxpayers when farmers do well?

It’s not only a shocking waste of taxpayers’ money and an illogical waste of time, but it’s a disgusting spectacle to see one of the world’s richest continents destroying or suppressing food supplies while people elsewhere starve due to shortages and high prices. To be honest, it makes me sick.

Northumberland County Council, who lost £23 million of taxpayers’ money in Icelandic banks, is having a Public Question Time at on Wednesday, 5 November 2008 at 4.00 p.m. in the Council Chamber, County Hall, Morpeth.

Please visit this link for details about putting your question to the Council leader and cabinet as well as further information about attending:  http://pscm.northumberland.gov.uk/pls/portal92/docs/24437

This council lost your money.  We strongly encourage you turn up, fly the TPA banner and hold them to account.  Ask them why they didn’t heed the warnings widely put forth that Iceland’s banks weren’t in a strong enough state to invest in.  Ask them why they didn’t put the £23 million towards lowering your council tax.  Finally, demand they not use their incompetence as an excuse to raise your taxes next year.

Since we issued a call to action for our supporters and activists to hold the council leaders who had lost your money in Icelandic banks as well as those London councils who opposed a tax freeze, we’ve had a few responses from London council leaders opposed to the rise.

From Barking and Dagenham council leader Charles Fairbrass MBE we got the following:

“Presumably you are against the bailout of the banks with tax payer’s money and you are also against the government bailing out those Councils that have lost their Council Tax payers money in Icelandic banks.”

Cllr Fairbrass, we’re against Councils hoarding money away when it should be returned to the taxpayer in tax cuts.  But then again given the record of Cllr Fairbrass’s administration, I don’t think they’ve ever met a tax increase they didn’t like.  We [i.e. the general public] also don’t have access to his way of beating the credit crunch – that £45,028 councillor salary he gets off Barking and Dagenham taxpayers. 

Please keep up the assault on Cllr Fairbrass, letting him know that he and other council leaders must take responsibility and will be held accountable if their over-spending budgets leave us with higher tax bills next year.  Follow up with an email to: [email protected]

From Southwark Council we got a rather combative reply from council leader Nicholas Stanton:

“I suggest that you urge the so-called Taxpayers Alliance to get their facts straight. (We get our facts from Freedom of Information responses from your council)

Since I became leader of Southwark Council six years ago council tax bills have fallen from some of the highest in London to some of the lowest.

This year we are cutting over 1 million pounds from our communications spend.

We are pledged not to increase council tax by more than RPI. (ed: That’s inflation, currently running at 4.7!)

Unlike George Osborne I think council tax should be scrapped. It is unrelated to the ability to pay and is unfair. Unlike George Osborne I think that the government urgently needs to recalculate the formula it uses to decide how much grant to give to Southwark as we are being unfairly cut at the moment.

You do not say whether or not you live in Southwark.”

Firstly, if you follow up, please make it clear to Cllr. Stanton that a reply shouldn’t depend on whether you live in Southwark because 75% of Southwark’s funding comes from general taxation – i.e. your money!  It’s good to get on record, however, that Southwark is cutting £1million off its communications budget – something we will definitely hold them to account on if they don’t.  Again, the worry is that they will increase council tax at the rate of inflation.  So be sure for a 4.7% increase in your Southwark council tax next year. 

Cllr Steve Reed, leader of Lambeth Council, here pledges to a freeze for the next two years:

"I’m very proud of the fact that Lambeth has one of the lowest levels of council tax in the country and, following the 40% increase pushed through by the previous Lib Dem / Tory coalition between 2002-6, our current Labour administration has kept increases at the level of inflation for the past two years and is looking at a freeze for the next two years.  We are achieving that by cutting out waste and inefficiency in a way our predecessor administration failed to do."

This, more than ever, means we have to keep up the pressure, showing support for a freeze in council tax in Lambeth.  As he’s been on the record with us now, however, we will be keeping a special eye on Lambeth to see Cllr Reed sticks to his pledge.  Please send your follow up emails urging a freeze to [email protected].

Mayor Sir Robin Wales of Newham has replied, well a member of his staff has replied, saying his ‘council tax team’ is looking into our lobby for a council tax freeze.  Watch this space for a more thorough reply from Sir Robin.

Our final response comes from Cllr Lourie of Richmond:

"I have now received three similar emails inspired by the Taxpayers’ Alliance. (ed: RESULT!)

This Council has never taken a view on George Osborne’s proposal for councils to freeze council tax. (ed: Erm…see here to find out that you have or the Evening Standard is misquoting you: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23562433-details/Half+of+boroughs+oppose+Tory+council+tax+freeze/article.do)   

Our objective is to keep increases as low as possible at below or around the rate of inflation.  As the lowest spending council per head in London, we have been largely successful as, apart from an increase of 15.6% in 2003/04 we have a reputation as an efficient Council.  We are one of only six councils in the country who have been ranked as “excellent” in value for money by the independent Audit Commission.

Thank you again for your email.  It is always helpful that members of the public monitor what we do.  If you have any concrete suggestions on how we can save money, my colleagues and I would like to hear from you.”

This is interesting because either Cllr Lourie is telling porkies about not opposing Osborne’s freeze or his communications department has put their foot in it and not told Cllr Lourie they’ve opposed it. Or they’re lying.  Again, a tax increase at the rate of inflation means a tax hike of 4.7% – dangerously close to the 5% cap central government threatens to impose.

If you want to hold your London council to account and join our grassroots lobby for a freeze in council tax, click here.  Or if your council has lost your money in an Icelandic bank and you want to hold them to account click here.  With either, if you get any responses email them over to me so we can hold these politicians to what they say!

One thing is for certain with our lobbying campaigns holding politicians to account: We will not be going away!

Yesterday saw my first contribution to ConservativeHome’s Local Government blog – who have kindly invited me to write a weekly column on local government finance. You can read my first article here. Each week we’ll be picking up an example of good or bad practice, waste, innovation, inefficiency, mismanagement or sheer lunacy in Town Halls across the land. As ever, if your council has come up with a great way to save taxpayers’ money or an awful way to spend it, let us know!

If you’re sick of seeing your council tax wasted, join the TPA for free here.

Having been caught out appallingly by the collapse of Iceland’s banks, councils and the Local Government Association have been reaching for the fat file marked "excuses" with a vengeance over the last few days. Given the range and variety of excuses and buck passing that’s going on, we thought it might be handy to give you a run-down of the main types and the reason they are mistaken…

1) How were we to know? This species of excuse is also known as "No-one saw this coming". These banks, the councils claim, were highly rated by international ratings firms (see point 2, below), everyone loved Icelandic banks and there were no questions about their footing. Unfortunately, this simply isn’t true – ratings agencies, the media, parliamentarians, advisory firms and even other councils had been expressing concerns about Icelandic banks’ stability for months. Arlingclose, one of the companies which advises councils on their investments, has been warning its local government clients and other councils against investing in Iceland since 2006.

The key question is, if no-one could have seen this coming why did Brighton and Hove council pull out of Iceland 12 months ago for exactly this reason?

2) These banks had AAA ratings from the international agencies. A lot of councillors, council officers and LGA officials have seized on this claim, mixing and mashing official terms as they go. Sadly, it’s not true – as this neat summary from the Times makes clear:

On January 30, Moody’s Investors Service warned that it was planning to cut ratings on the main Icelandic banks. It downgraded the biggest, Glitnir, Kaupthing and Landsbanki, from C to C-minus a month later. In April, Standard & Poor’s raised concerns about Glitnir, downgrading it from A-minus to BBB-plus, “the lowest rating at the time of any western European bank”.

Perhaps some of these banks had ok ratings when councils first got involved with them, but they should have been reviewing and reassessing very regularly, not just assuming everything was probably fine. Far from having great ratings, these banks not only had poor ratings but were moving down as a clear trend. They should have picked up on that and acted accordingly.

3) Our advisors told us to. What, those advisors and consultants who have always been defended on the basis that they cost a lot because they’re really, really good? If they did tell councils to do this then they weren’t very good and they should have their deals terminated immediately. The Finance Directors who pursued these flawed investment strategies should lose their jobs – particularly those that put more money in in recent months despite all the warnings.

4) We had a responsibility to make a profit. In reality, councils’ first and foremost responsibility was to keep this money secure. Not only is that common sense – after all, they are councils, not hedge funds – but it is even what the Government’s official advice said. In a year of market turbulence and vast financial danger, councils should never have been trying to play the market. Yes, some of these accounts may have had better interest rates than competitors, but frankly an extra 1% isn’t worth much when it’s 1% of nothing because it’s all vanished into an Icelandic crater. This underlines yet again the financial and managerial naivety in so many Town Halls that allowed them to mix up getting a good deal and taking an unreasonable risk.

5) We always act prudently. In short: you obviously don’t. The catalogue of errors that got councils into this situation is horrifying. Some councils, such as Haringey, even put taxpayers’ money into Icelandic banks in recent weeks – in Haringey’s case, even after the first Icelandic bank had collapsed. Not only were they investing money in risky banks in spite of all the warning signs, many councils tied themselves – and taxpayers’ money – into fixed and closed two- or three-year deals. It’s shocking that over the last few weeks several councils have been desperately trying to take money out of Icelandic accounts but haven’t been able to because they had signed away the right to do so. If they hadn’t sacrificed all control over the money in this way they would at least have been able to do what South Norfolk District Council did and take the cash out a couple of weeks ago.

The bottom line is this: the money being invested did not come from some city millionaire, looking for the highest possible return in a high risk hedge fund. This was money from the pocket of ordinary taxpayers. The councils had no mandate to play fast and loose with our hard-earned cash.

Responsibility should be allotted and people must be held accountable for this mess. Some councils – notably those who have lost huge amounts of our money in unwise investments – have already started saying conveniently "Well, we mustn’t have a blame game about this", but it would be utterly wrong to allow incompetence of this magnitude to pass.

The first step in holding people to account would be for councils to take responsibility for their failings and say sorry. On the Today Programme this morning, having tried to blag his way through using the above excuses, the LGA’s Paul Coen was expertly pinned down by Lord Oakeshott but still, even when confronted with the facts, refused to say sorry.

Local councils have angered and alienated millions of people even further in the last few days, so here’s a few tips on how to start improving the situation: Step 1, apologies. Step 2, take responsibility. Step 3, accept that the consultants and Directors who got us into this mess should pay the price for the failure.

To do all of those things, one basic change in behaviour is essential: ditch the excuses.

How you can help in the fight for lower council tax

George Osborne had barely sat down after committing the Tories to freezing council tax for two years when 16 London councils rushed out to denounce the proposed freeze.  So it’s up to us to fight for a freeze and push for a cut in our sky-high council tax where we can.

There are two ways you can get involved.  Below you will find a template letter you can send to the leaders of the councils opposing the freeze.  Simply email it to the leaders listed below and wait for a response.  Should you get a response, do email it onto me at [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> and we’ll publicise it on our blog.  Remember that if enough emails are sent, the politicians will realise their decision to denounce the freeze is deeply unpopular.   

Second, you can write to your local paper.  I’ve listed the local papers that distribute within the councils who have denounced the freeze.  There are also some pointers on how to set out the letter.  Be sure to put in the subject line ‘letter to the Editor’ so that if your email happens to end up in the news inbox it will then be forwarded to the letters editor.

1. Lobbying the council leaders

Here are the 16 councils and their leaders opposing a freeze in council tax.  Underneath you will find the template letter to send them.

Barking and Dagenham <mailto:[email protected]> (Labour, Cllr Charles Fairbrass: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> ) 

Brent (Lib Dem/Tory, Cllr Paul Lorber: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> ) 

Camden (Lib Dem/Tory, Cllr Keith Moffitt: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> )

Greenwich (Labour, Cllr Chris Roberts: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> ) 

Hackney (Labour, Mayor Jules Pipe: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> ) 

Haringey (Labour, Cllr George Meehan: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> ) 

Islington (Lib Dem, Cllr James Kempton: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> )

Kingston (Lib Dem, Cllr Derek Osbourne: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> ) 

Lambeth (Labour, Cllr Steve Reed: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> ) 

Lewisham (Labour, Cllr Steve Bullock: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> ) 

Newham (Labour, Mayor Sir Robin Wales: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> ) 

Richmond (Lib Dem, Cllr S. Lourie: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> ) 

Southwark (Lib Dem, Cllr Nicholas Stanton: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> ) 

Sutton (Lib Dem, Cllr Sean Brennan: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> )

Tower Hamlets (Labour, Cllr Lutfur Rahman: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> )

Waltham Forest (Labour/Lib Dem, Cllr Clyde Loakes: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> ) 

“Dear Councillor,

I’m writing to ask you to reconsider your opposition to George Osborne’s policy of freezing council tax.  How unrealistic, after years of putting up our taxes, is it for you to freeze or even cut council tax?  Can I ask if you’ve thought of lowering our taxes to help us cope with inflation and the other economic troubles we’re facing?

We all must pay our bit for frontline services, I understand that.  But I object paying for council PR, self-congratulatory council literature and gold-plated pensions that have sent my council tax soaring. 

The TaxPayers’ Alliance has set out how you can cut council tax in their ‘Ten Per Cent Challenge’ report.  All you have to do is cut 10 per cent from your middle management, publicity and pension contributions.  It’s that simple and could help families up and down the borough struggling with high taxes. 

If George Osborne can take on board the ideas of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, what’s stopping you and your council doing the same, cutting the waste and giving taxpayers the tax break we deserve?

Yours,”

2.  Writing to the papers

We also need your help in holding these councils to account by writing letters to your local paper to let your community know these council leaders oppose a freeze of council tax – ruling out a cut next year – and that they’re keen on increasing taxes at the worst possible time.

Below you will find a list of the councils who have opposed the freeze as well as a newspaper that covers the area.  Please write to the paper calling for lower council tax and exposing how out of touch these council leaders are.  Something must be done to stop the ever-increasing-tax mentality in local government.  NB please don’t send the pro forma letter to your paper as they insist on unique letters.  I’ve included some bullet points below to guide you for your letter.  But please do get writing.  I’m sure you’ll agree we have to mobilise early to whip up support for lower council tax now so we can have a a tax cut land on our mats next spring. 

Barking and Dagenham (Labour) – Barking and Dagenham Post letters email address: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>

Brent (Lib Dem/ Tory) – The Brent Leader letters email address: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>

Camden (Lib Dem/Tory) – Camden New Journal letters email address: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>   

Greenwich (Labour) – Greenwich and Eltham Mercury letters email address: mailto:[email protected]?subject=Query%20via%20Website 

Hackney (Labour) – Hackney Gazette letters email address: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>

Haringey (Labour) – Haringey Independent letters page email address: [email protected] and the Haringey Advertiser: [email protected] 

Islington (Lib Dem) – Islington Tribune letters page email address: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> and the Islington Gazette: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> 

Kingston (Lib Dem) – Kingston Guardian letters page email address: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> and the Kingston Informer: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>

Lambeth (Labour) – Streatham Guardian letters email address: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> and the South London Press: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>

Lewisham (Labour) – Lewisham and Greenwich Mercury letters email address: mailto:[email protected]?subject=Query%20via%20Website

Newham (Labour) – Newham Recorder letters email address: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>

Richmond (Lib Dem) – Richmond Guardian letters page email address: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> and the Richmond and Twickenham Times: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>

Southwark (Lib Dem) – Southwark News letters page email address: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>

Sutton (Lib Dem) – Sutton Guardian letters page email address: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> 

Tower Hamlets (Labour) – Tower Hamlets Recorder letters email address: [email protected]

Waltham Forest (Labour/Lib Dem) – Waltham Forest Guardian letters page email address: [email protected]

Letter bullet points:

Content:

- Council tax has doubled in ten years – enough is enough.
- Increased fuel bills and other utilities mean we don’t need another tax hike the most vulnerable cannot afford.
- The ‘Ten Per Cent Challenge’ report shows that affordable cuts can be made from publicity, payroll and pensions to finance an average cut of £40 for band D tax.
- These councillors aren’t even fighting for a freeze; they’ve already admitted they want more and more of taxpayers’ money.
- Ask where the money’s gone.  Why after yearly council tax increases do they need to take more?

Tips:

- The shorter the letter, the better and there’s a greater likelihood it will get printed.
- Sign off as a TPA supporter – we have to show the politicians we’re a grassroots force to be reckoned with!
- Keep writing – regular letters will help us get our message across as well as informing more taxpayers about our campaign.

Thanks for reading.  It’ll be a tough battle to lower our council tax next year, but one we can win.

Below you will find all the councils who lost your money in Icelandic banks.  You will also find the contact details of the leaders of the respective councils.  Have our 10 Per Cent Challenge to hand when you write to them, telling them where they can cut spending so they don’t increase our taxes.  If they only cut 10% from their publicity, payroll and pensions they could save on average £40 off the Band D council tax bill.  Ask them what they will save, what middle managers they will cut back on and other non-jobs.  Demand that they do not increase your taxes last year.  Now is your chance to hold your council to account over your money they have gambled away.

We need to shout loud and clear that they must sort out their bureaucracies and not take the easy way out and hike up our taxes.  The fight for lower council tax – or even a freeze – starts now:

Kent County Council – Cllr Paul Carter – [email protected]
Nottingham City Council – Cllr Jon Collins – [email protected]
Norfolk County Council – Cllr Daniel Cox – [email protected]
Dorset County Council – Cllr Angus Campbell – [email protected]
Hertfordshire County Council – Cllr Robert Gordon – [email protected]
Barnet Council – Cllr Mike Freer – [email protected]
Somerset County Council – Cllr Jill Shortland – [email protected]
Northumberland County Council – Cllr Jeff Reid – [email protected]
Surrey County Council – Cllr Nick Skellett CBE – [email protected]
Hillingdon Council – Cllr Ray Puddifoot – [email protected]
Neath Port Talbot Council – Cllr Derek Vaughan – [email protected]
Westminster Council – Cllr Colin Barrow CBE – http://www3.westminster.gov.uk/forms/form_detail.cfm?cllr_id=3
Brent Council – Cllr Paul Lorber – [email protected]
Caerphilly County Council – Cllr Lindsay Whittle – [email protected]
North Ayrshire Council – Cllr David O’Neill – do’[email protected]
Plymouth City Council – Cllr Vivien Pengelly – [email protected]
Havering Council – Cllr Michael White – [email protected]
South Hams Council – Cllr R J Tucker – [email protected]
West Sussex County Council – Cllr Henry Smith – [email protected]
Breckland Council – Cllr William Nunn – [email protected]
Gloucestershire Council- Cllr Barry Dare- [email protected]
Cheltenham Borough Council- Cllr Stephen Jordan- [email protected]
Lancashire County Council- Cllr H Harding CBE- [email protected]
Cambridge County Council- Jill Tuck- [email protected]
Wakefield- Cllr Peter Box- [email protected]
West Oxfordshire District Council- Cllr Barry Norton- barry.norton@westoxon.gov.uk
Wyre Forest District Council- Cllr John-Paul Campion- john.campion@wyreforestdc.gov.uk
Cheshire County Council- Cllr Paul Findlow- Paul.Findlow@cheshire.gov.uk
Bassetlaw District Council- Cllr Mike Quigley- mike.quigley@bassetlaw.gov.uk
Bristol City Council- Cllr Helen Holland- helen.holland@bristol.gov.uk
Daventry District Council- Cllr Chris Miller- cmillar@daventrydc.gov.uk
Wiltshire County Council- Cllr Jane Scott- janescott@wiltshire.gov.uk
South Lanarkshire Council- Cllr Edward McAvoy- Councillor.McAvoy@southlanarkshire.gov.uk
Derwentside District Council- Cllr Alex Watson- a.watson@derwentside.gov.uk
North East Lincolnshire Council- Cllr Andrew De Freitas- andrew.defreitas@nelincs.gov.uk
West Lindsey District Council- Cllr Bernard Theobald- Tdproductions@lineone.net
Redcar and Cleveland Council- Cllr George Dunning- george_dunning@redcar-cleveland.gov.uk
Lancaster City Council- Cllr Roger Mace- rmace@lancaster.gov.uk
Canterbury City Council- Cllr John Gilbey- john.gilbey@canterbury.gov.uk
Ceredigion- Cllr Evan john Keith Evans- keithe@ceredigion.gov.uk
Sutton Council- Sean Brennan- sean.brennan@sutton.gov.uk
Bracknell Forest Borough Council- Paul Bettison- paul.bettison@bracknell-forest.gov.uk
Bromley Borough Council- Stephen Carr- stephen.carr@bromley.gov.uk
Buckinghamshire County Council- David Shakespeare- dshakespeare@buckscc.gov.uk
Stoke-on-Trent Council – Mayor Mark Meredith – mayormeredith@stoke.gov.uk
Braintree District Council-Graham Butland- cllr.gbutland@braintree.gov.uk
Cornwall County Council- David Whalley- dwhalley@cornwall.gov.uk
Exeter City Council – Cllr Adrian Fullam – cllr.adrian.fullam@exeter.gov.uk
Ipswich Borough Council- Elizabeth Harsant- elizabeth.harsant@councillors.ipswich.gov.uk
Oxfordshire County Council- Keith Mitchell- keith.mitchell@oxfordshire.gov.uk
South Ayrshire Council- Hugh Hunter- Hugh.Hunter@south-ayrshire.gov.uk
South Ribble- Margaret Rose Smith- cllr.msmith@southribble.gov.uk
Wokingham Borough Council- David Lee- david.lee@wokingham.gov.uk
Gateshead Council- Mick Henry- cllr.mhenry@gateshead.gov.uk
Oxford City Council- Bob Price- cllrbprice@oxford.gov.uk
Colchester Borough Council- Anne Turrell- cllr.anne.turrell@colchester.gov.uk
East Lindsey District Council- Doreen Stephenson- doreen.stephenson@e-lindsey.gov.uk
East Staffordshire Borough Council- Alex James Hall Fox- alex.fox@eaststaffsbc.gov.uk
North Wiltshire District Council- Richard Tonge- rtonge@northwilts.gov.uk
Restormel Borough Council- Annette Eggerton- cllr.annette.egerton@restormel.gov.uk
Rotherham Council- Roger Stone- leader@rotherham.gov.uk
Flintshire Council- Arnold Woolley- arnold.woolley@flintshire.gov.uk
East Ayrshire- Douglas Reid-

ref=”mailto:douglas.reid@east-ayrshire.gov.uk”>douglas.reid@east-ayrshire.gov.uk
North Somerset- Nigel Ashton- nigel.ashton@n-somerset.gov.uk 
Nuneaton and Bedworth- Marcus Jones- democratic.services@nuneatonandbedworth.gov.uk
Peterborough City Council- John Peach- john.peach@peterborough.gov.uk
Rhondda Cynon Taff Council- Russell Roberts- Russell.Roberts@rhondda-cynon-taff.gov.uk
Solihull Council- Ken Meeson- kmeeson@solihull.gov.uk
Stroud- Chas Fellows- https://www.stroud.gov.uk/docs/ask_leader.asp
Slough Council- Richard Stokes- councillors@slough.gov.uk
South Oxfordshire District Council – Colin Daukes  colin.daukes@southoxon.gov.uk
Wycombe District Council – Roger Wilson roger_wilson@Wycombe.gov.uk
Cotswold District Council – Sheila Jeffrey sheila.jeffery@cotswold.gov.uk
Gloucester City Council – Paul James psj@gloucester.gov.uk
Great Yarmouth – Barry Coleman bcg@great-yarmouth.gov.uk
Moray Council – George McIntyre convener@moray.gov.uk
Newark and Sherwood District Council – A C Roberts tony.roberts@nsdc.info
South Hams District Council – Basil F Cane basil@vennfarm.co.uk
Monmouthshire Council – Peter Fox peterfox@monmouthshire.gov.uk
Mid-Devon – Peter Hare-Scott pharescott@middevon.gov.uk
Charnwood Borough Council – Richard Shepherd cllr.richard.shepherd@charnwood.gov.uk
Dover District Council – Bernard Butcher cllrbernardbutcher@dover.gov.uk
Bridgend Council – M E J Nott Cllr.Mel.Nott@bridgend.gov.uk
Hertsmere Borough Council – Morris Bright leader@hertsmere.gov.uk
Kirklees Council -  Robert Light  the.leader@kirklees.gov.uk
Perth and Kinross Council – Ian Miller imiller@pkc.gov.uk
Tewkesbury Borough Council -  Robert Vines councillor.vines@tewkesbury.gov.uk
Vale of White Horse District Council -  Tony de Vere  tony.devere@whitehorsedc.gov.uk
Winchester – George Beckett – gbeckett@winchester.gov.uk
Sevenoaks District Council – Felicity Broomby civic.office@sevenoaks.gov.uk
Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council – Mark Worrall mark.worrall@tmbc.gov.uk
Lewes District Council -  Carla Butler carlabutler@btinternet.com
Burnley Council – Goron Birtwistle gbirtwistle@burnley.gov.uk
Chorley Council – Cllr Peter Goldsworthy – leader.council@chorley.gov.uk
Wychavon District Council – Mrs J E Sandalls josan@uk2.net