Peter Forrest, Conservative GLA Candidate for Enfield-Haringey, warned this week that council tax bills could soar next year in Enfield and Haringey. Local government leaders across the political divide have advised that a shortfall in government funding will force council tax bills across the country to rise by four times the rate of inflation. In Enfield, this would add an extra £129 on Band D bills, taking the yearly tax bill to £1252 – equivalent to a monthly bill of £104. In Haringey, this would add an extra £135 on Band D bills, taking the yearly tax bill to £1309 – equivalent to a monthly bill of £109. 

Commenting on the shock figures, Peter Forrest said:  

“Local government leaders, from all parties, have warned that council tax could rocket for yet another year. The Labour Government have turned council tax into a stealth tax. In Enfield, local residents are already paying £485 more, and in Haringey £347 more, on Band D bills since 1997. Next year, bills may shoot up to a worrying £130+ per year. This is before Mayor Livingstone adds his usual rapacious demands (up 83% in 3 years). 

Whitehall bureaucrats have done the Government’s dirty work and have rigged local funding to take resources away from good councils, forcing them to increase taxes to prevent cuts in frontline public services. Councils have also had to bear the cost of extra burdens and regulations imposed from above. 

But Liberal Democrat plans for a new local income tax aren’t the answer – soaring council tax bills are because Enfield and Haringey are simply not getting a fair deal from Whitehall. A potential monthly tax bill of £104/£109 (Enfield/Haringey)  will be all the harder to pay for working people who have suffered from Labour’s jobs tax, supported by the Liberal Democrats, of higher National Insurance. People in Enfield and Haringey are being asked to pay ever higher taxes, without the improvements in our public services that we all want to see.”

ENDS.