10,000 EXCUSES - Letter (16/11/05)

We are disappointed that Somerset County Council has the audacity to issue propaganda paving the way for huge Council tax rises next year by pretending that it is consulting with the taxpayers. There is no real choice presented to the public and past experience suggests that the Administration will ignore the outcomes of the exercise anyway.

The Council declares that 10,000 forms have been issued asking for people's views, but these are nothing more than 10,000 excuses.

We propose that taxpayers are given a real say by asking their opinion on those services that we are not required by law to provide. Those are the things that we have a choice about, and that would be far more worthwhile than asking the public which level of tax rise they are willing to accept.

We welcome the LGA paper pointing out that the Government does not fund local services properly. We support the County Council's call for fairer funding for Somerset. However, we will continue to highlight where the Liberal Democrats at County Hall waste money - for example £2million wasted on their disastrous road sign policy

Further, the Liberal Democrat's flagship Local Income Tax policy would merely shift the tax burden on to working families, increasing their average tax bill by almost £700 a year.

David Huxtable,

Deputy Leader and Finance Spokesman, Conservative Group, Somerset County Council