Council Tax to rise again

We are facing another high Council Tax rise. Yes we can blame Brown and his Government for stealth taxes but there is a point at which local Council's must take responsibility for their spending.

The graph opposite shows how staff numbers have grown in Kingston as Council tax has risen. There is a clear correlation between the two.

Staff have increased by 37% and in this year alone another 500 (12% increase) were added. Council Tax has risen by 59%.

More staff should mean more services - or at least better services. Yet when the Council recently undertook a survey of resident satisfaction they found that 37% of residents thought the council were doing a good job, as opposed to 50% in 2000. The report said: "Residents feel that the way the Council runs things has stayed the same over the past three years, rather than getting better or worse."

So when Council Tax next year goes up by a rate way above inflation it may be right to criticise the Government but also remember there are things the Council can do.