Proposal sparks heated debate on council funding
AUTHORITY TO REQUEST MORE SUPPORT FROM GOVERNMENT
A COUNCIL will write to the government, Labour leader Keir Starmer and MPs in the hope of getting more central funding for local government and social care.
The proposal reignited a debate in a full Stockton Council meeting over a 4.9% council tax increase and who should pay for social care, said to take up 75% of the authority’s budget.
The motion was put forward by Ingleby Barwick Independent Society group leader Clllr Kevin Faulks, who said he wanted to tackle council tax bills described as “like having a second mortgage”.
It proposed asking for more grant money and a long-term fair funding package for councils, and full central government funding for adults’ and children’s social care.
He proposed sending the requests to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Labour leader Keir Starmer, Stockton MPs and the Local Government Association.
His proposal pointed out 60% of council funding used to come from central government, 40% from council tax. Now it was the other way around.
Labour councillors supported the motion, with Cllr Louise Baldock saying it was not overtly party-political: “I absolutely support the idea national rather than local government should be funding adult social care and children’s services.
“Every year when we look at our budgets that’s where the massive overspends come in.”
Cllr Lisa Evans, cabinet member for children and young people, said: “It’s about social care for our children and for our adults, and 75% of our budget is spent on that.”
However Conservative group leader Cllr Tony Riordan accused Cllr Faulks and Labour councillors of “heaping misery” on residents then blaming the government, saying Labour had increased council tax by 38% since 2016.
He said: “You should be ashamed of battering our residents year after year.
“All of you who have regularly voted to support Labour’s annual council tax rise to inflict this burden should be ashamed.
“The government do not give councils the power to raise council tax. It’s a myth spun by councillors like you.
“This Labour-led council has squeezed as much council tax out of our hard-pressed residents as they have done, to do what? It spends money on restructuring the High Street which produces beggars and drunks in abundance and puts our residents in fear of venturing there.
“Cllr Faulks, you need to tell your residents that their second mortgage is to pay for the disastrous ventures you and this Labour-led council you always support have taken, spending hundreds of millions of pounds of their money on the vanity projects this borough is now famous for.”
Labour members reacted strongly to this with Cllr Barry Woodhouse saying he was disgusted: “This is not the kind of politics I signed up for.”
Cllr Baldock accused the opposition leader of being “rude, slanderous and very unpleasant”.
Cllr Steve Nelson, cabinet member for health, leisure and culture, said: “The Conservative group not once came forward with an alternative budget that reduced council tax. They’ve given up the ghost. Criticise, criticise, criticise and never come up with anything yourself. It’s easy being in opposition.
“You’re going to vote against asking the government to introduce funding for adult social care so they take responsibility off the taxpayers of Stockton. Absolute voodoo economics.”
Council leader and Labour group leader Cllr Bob Cook said the council lost £73m of its grant and had to make £45m cuts with the loss of more than 1,000 jobs under austerity: “They tell us about the spending power we have, but a lot of it is on the backs of our residents in this borough.
“That’s what they’ve been doing over the last 13 years by cutting local spending, reversing it so local people have to pay more for services that should be delivered nationally.”
The motion was passed by 34 votes to 11.