THE ISSUE: Should Oxfordshire County Council look at a bigger rise in council tax?

With many local people still feeling the squeeze several years after the recession, local councillors have a big responsibility to keep council tax bills as low as possible.

But following nearly a decade of majority control of Oxfordshire County Council by the Conservatives, we also need to look at whether more money may be needed to keep the council’s services at an acceptable level. Nothing illustrates this more visibly than the state of the county’s roads.

The backlog of maintenance has got steadily worse, and the county councillor responsible now describes the situation as one of ‘managing decline’.

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Some roads in the county have already failed completely and are closed, with no funds to fix and reopen them.

For years we Lib Dems argued that greater investment was needed, our budgets identified lower priority expenditure that could be cut, but the Conservatives refused to listen.

They argued that they had everything under control and that, for example, they should continue to spend money on printing glossy leaflets rather than divert cash into road maintenance or gully clearance.

Their chickens have now come home to roost.

Funding from the Government is steadily reducing in real terms. Pressure on vital services such as helping elderly people and those with disabilities is growing. The County Council doesn’t have enough money to maintain even the current poor state of our roads. So, in these circum-stances, county councillors will have to look at whether it is necessary to raise council tax a little in order to help fund some of our most basic services.

Before supporting such a rise, it is vital that councillors do look at every line of expenditure and see what can be saved. We should never forget that the Council Tax falls most heavily on working people at the lower end of the income scale.

• Neil Fawcett

NO: Council taxpayer Andy Beal, who was asked for his salary when he asked councillors about the 19 per cent allowance hike they gave themselves

A great number of cuts have already been made and millions of pounds worth of further cuts is ongoing, so would I be willing to pay more in council tax to reduce the effects of some of these cuts? 

Last week I may have agreed, however after councillors voted through massive increases to their allowances and the response they gave to a simple question, my mind has changed to a resounding no. 

Not so long ago council tax went up year on year, but we saw no benefit of this. Services did not improve, they actually deteriorated in some areas. Cuts were still being made even though councils were receiving more income from taxpayers each year. 

We have seen our bin collections changed from weekly to fortnightly, libraries closed, social services cut, old people’s homes closing, pot holes not being repaired, cost of burying your loved ones rising, and it makes you wonder, where is the money being spent? 

• Andy Beal

The Oxfordshire County Council councillors and co-opted member allowances for 2013/2014 were £755,168.78 and they have just voted for an 19 per cent increase! I’m sure a few cuts there would help the cause. 

Council tax arrears is at an all-time high, because people cannot afford to pay it. Putting up the tax, more families will fall into debt and the council will actually collect less tax in the short term. 

People might agree to an increase if they had a choice on where the extra money would go, however the council would never agree to letting the ‘people’ choose and take away some of their power. 

The problem we have now is that the council is so out of touch with members of the public that the trust has gone. 

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