Councillor hits out at 'England expects' letter (From Harrow Times)
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David Ashton hits out at government over funding
7:00am Monday 9th February 2009 in News
THE leader of Harrow Council has hit out at a government minister over a letter sent out about council tax rises.
Councillor David Ashton attacked the “Nelsonian” tone of a letter sent to all local authorities encouraging them to make sure council tax hikes are below five per cent.
He said: “Central government is putting more and more pressure on us to do things.
“They are turning a blind eye to the real situation and what's happening in the real world.
"It's got an almost Nelsonian, 'England expects' tone to it.
“The problem would be solved in one fell swoop if there was an absolute increase by ten per cent.”
Councils were sent a letter at the end of the last year by Local Government minister John Healy MP, which said: “The government expects the average council tax increase in England to be substantially below five per cent in 2009-10, and we will not hesitate to use our capping powers as necessary to protect council taxpayers from excessive increases.”
Harrow receives a low level of grant from the government and it is only being increased by 1.75 per cent, which local councillors have long argued puts undue pressure on Harrow Council.
They have been campaigning for more money from central government, but Cllr Ashton said he believes government will not have much to give after the large amounts of money has been put into rescuing ailing national banks.
He said: “I can't see where the government money is going to come from, it is an irresponsible position of the government to be doing all this borrowing.”
Council tax in Harrow looks set to rise by 2.95 per cent this year, well below the five per cent rate at which rises will be capped by the government.
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Richard_at_Harrow
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3:58pm Wed 11 Feb 09
Government attacked over rent hikes for Harrow Council tenants
1:07pm Wednesday 11th February 2009
By Jack Royston »
THE woman who represents tenants across Harrow has hit out at proposed rent hikes.
Paddy Lyne, chairman of the Federation of Tenants and Leaseholders, said government plans to force Harrow Council to increase rent by 6 per cent for people in its accommodation were “intolerable”.
She said: “This is wrong at this time. We've got a credit crunch on. A lot of these people are not on benefits and they have got to pay these above inflation increases in rent.
“It's really unfair. The government aught to say for this year we won't expect council's to bring rent up. It's intolerable.”
The Department for Communities and Local Government says it will review the policy, which would only affect council tenants who pay rent, after opposition from local authorities in London.
Malinee Wanduragala, a spokesman for the department, said the system offered a “very good deal” to Londoners with rents still well below those paid by people who do not live in council housing.
She said: “Under the current proposals the increases will amount to no more than an estimated average of £3.95 per week, though for over 60% of tenants these increases will be covered by housing benefit.”
If the proposals do go through they will affect thousands of people across Brent and Harrow.
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