broken Conservative local election pledge to ‘keep council tax low’ could mean a £109 council tax hike on Band D council tax bills according to figures revealed by the Barnet Labour Group.

 

 

The pledge was scrapped on 11 June in the first Barnet Council budget report following the local elections on 3 May. The report details plans to hike general council tax up by the legal maximum 2.99% allowed each year for the next three years. This means average council tax bills would increase by a whopping £109 over the next three years.

 

 

Band D council tax is currently £1,189.34 and would increase to £1,299.23 by 2021/22 under these plans.

 

 

Labour councillors highlighted the broken promise in a motion to last week’s Full Council meeting (31 July).

 

 

 

Leader of the Barnet Labour Group, Cllr Barry Rawlings said: “It hasn’t taken long for the Conservative manifesto to move from being a blueprint of future council priorities to the waste bin.

 

 

 

“Going for the highest possible council tax rise is not keeping it ‘low’. This is a manifesto already torn up a few weeks after an election – if the Tories were serious about keeping council tax low they would remove the maximum increase in general council tax from their medium term financial strategy. The people of Barnet deserve an apology. ”

 

 

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