16 November 2007
The Local Government Association has rejected a Conservative plan to force councils to hold referendums if they want approval for high council tax increases.
The plan, launched by Opposition leader David Cameron on November 13, would end government capping of councils wishing to impose increases above a threshold level set by MPs.
Instead, bills sent out to households would ask whether they supported any 'excessive' increase, with a referendum form attached. A 'no' vote would mean they would get a rebate the following year.
But the LGA said voters were already able to vote against rises in council tax – via the ballot box in local government elections. 'Local authorities should have the power to determine, without interference, the appropriate levels of council tax for their area,' an LGA spokesman said.
Cameron, in a speech to the Young Foundation in east London, said that the move should replace the central government 'capping' of local authorities – which he described as 'an old-fashioned idea straight out of the bureaucratic age' – to improve democratic accountability. 'I think it's right to give people the ultimate say,' he said.
Cameron claimed that more power must be devolved from the centre 'to tailor customised solutions to local problems'.
'The new powers we will give local councils will reduce the pressure to increase council tax bills,' he claimed. 'But I don't propose to hand over power to councils without strengthening the accountability of councillors to the people they serve.'
Communities Secretary Hazel Blears said the proposal was 'just another empty David Cameron gimmick'.
She added: 'Any local council can hold a local community vote on the level of council tax increase, and some of them already do… You don't need some new law.'
PFnov2007
