BDL, as someone who seems to know what they're talking about, can you enlighten me as to why Council Tax is £60 a month in Wandsworth and £120 in most other London boroughs? I realise that it may offer less services but its 100% cheaper than anywhere else?
Blame it on Central Government having to acquiesce to demands agreed with European Union - resulting in less treasury contribution to local government resulting in higher counil tax demands.
The fact it is not based on ability to pay is total injustice.
Totally agree with AFKA - pretty much anything I would want from the council I have to pay extra for (apart from street cleaning and rubbish collection) and it's all based on the supposed value of my house - why not fairly means test - and by that I mean look at the outgoings, not just the income?
Fact is that the more money you earn the more you are 'fined' to pay for all the others in the country. Personally I have no cash whatsoever at the end of the month, but I still then have to pay the sodding council for a load of services that I don't use and so that their staff can have flexi days, plus 30 days holiday, great pensions and job security - none of which I enjoy. I even have to pay to park my car outside my house and if I want people to come and visit me they have to have one of my vouchers, which of course I also have to pay for. I agree with the concept of society and then need to support others, but I do not agree with the way countless millions are wasted / mis-spent etc by an arrogant public sector every year..
I, and I'm sure a lot of people in similar situations, are getting increasingly fed up - something will happen soon (sod it, I'll set up my own party if I have to)
[cite]Posted By: kinveachyaddick[/cite]BDL, as someone who seems to know what they're talking about, can you enlighten me as to why Council Tax is £60 a month in Wandsworth and £120 in most other London boroughs?
I realise that it may offer less services but its 100% cheaper than anywhere else?
Because the settlement they get from central Govt. is the best in London and they've more or less privatised all their services - cut back to the bone.
I completely agree about wastage, there's lots of it - not just in local govt. I can tell you of a system that cost us (the taxpayers) nearly a £billion and it still doesn't work!
Problem is, we all agree that it's not a fair system to collect revenue - no one can come up woth a solution that works and is fair to all!
"Problem is, we all agree that it's not a fair system to collect revenue - no one can come up woth a solution that works and is fair to all !"
I say:
Abolish Council Tax/Rates, whatever you want to call it.
Give councils a total grant for a pre-determined annual budget - and pay for it from Central Government Treasury funds by increasing VAT to 20% or whatever.
It does away with the cost of collection and related administration - and it doesn't cost any more to collect 20% VAT than it would 17.5%.
That way, everybody pays fairly based on how much they spend.
its all crap!!! i pay £110 a month small 2 bedder in maidstone. to dear for wat you get! we have to make sure our bins are 3 ft up the end of the front garden otherwise they refuse to take it, wich is fair enough. but if for some reason you forget they dont bother taking it!?! literally people its 2 FREAKIN YARDS! then we spend the next week jumping on the bin to pack it tight because they will refuse to take it if the lid isnt shut properly! aaaaaahhhh!
[cite]Posted By: carlsberg[/cite]its all crap!!! i pay £110 a month small 2 bedder in maidstone. to dear for wat you get! we have to make sure our bins are 3 ft up the end of the front garden otherwise they refuse to take it, wich is fair enough. but if for some reason you forget they dont bother taking it!?! literally people its 2 FREAKIN YARDS! then we spend the next week jumping on the bin to pack it tight because they will refuse to take it if the lid isnt shut properly! aaaaaahhhh!
Have you told the council this?
Incidentally, to back up BDL, Wandsworth Council are in a financial fix now because of their low tax levels, there's a lot of cutbacks going on there now.
i pay the equivalent of £100 per month - this is a big old house (6 bedrooms) & i guess it would be worth a lot back in London town, i think it's marginally better value over here - although
(a). you don't get the rubbish collected from your house there's a communal fort knox style bin on each road, mainly because it's not a good idea to leave bin bags lying around with swarms of hungry grizzly bears in the 'hood
(b). we rely on the council to keep the roads clear after a couple of feet of snow overnight, something they never fail to do - i chickle at the tales of devastation when a couple of cm's of snow flutter down on London
Comments
I realise that it may offer less services but its 100% cheaper than anywhere else?
The fact it is not based on ability to pay is total injustice.
Fact is that the more money you earn the more you are 'fined' to pay for all the others in the country. Personally I have no cash whatsoever at the end of the month, but I still then have to pay the sodding council for a load of services that I don't use and so that their staff can have flexi days, plus 30 days holiday, great pensions and job security - none of which I enjoy. I even have to pay to park my car outside my house and if I want people to come and visit me they have to have one of my vouchers, which of course I also have to pay for. I agree with the concept of society and then need to support others, but I do not agree with the way countless millions are wasted / mis-spent etc by an arrogant public sector every year..
I, and I'm sure a lot of people in similar situations, are getting increasingly fed up - something will happen soon (sod it, I'll set up my own party if I have to)
I'm going for a lie down
Because the settlement they get from central Govt. is the best in London and they've more or less privatised all their services - cut back to the bone.
I completely agree about wastage, there's lots of it - not just in local govt. I can tell you of a system that cost us (the taxpayers) nearly a £billion and it still doesn't work!
Problem is, we all agree that it's not a fair system to collect revenue - no one can come up woth a solution that works and is fair to all!
I say:
Abolish Council Tax/Rates, whatever you want to call it.
Give councils a total grant for a pre-determined annual budget - and pay for it from Central Government Treasury funds by increasing VAT to 20% or whatever.
It does away with the cost of collection and related administration - and it doesn't cost any more to collect 20% VAT than it would 17.5%.
That way, everybody pays fairly based on how much they spend.
see wat you done there, LOL
Have you told the council this?
Incidentally, to back up BDL, Wandsworth Council are in a financial fix now because of their low tax levels, there's a lot of cutbacks going on there now.
(a). you don't get the rubbish collected from your house there's a communal fort knox style bin on each road, mainly because it's not a good idea to leave bin bags lying around with swarms of hungry grizzly bears in the 'hood
(b). we rely on the council to keep the roads clear after a couple of feet of snow overnight, something they never fail to do - i chickle at the tales of devastation when a couple of cm's of snow flutter down on London