We're keeping our promises (From Oxford Mail)

We're keeping our promises

2:09pm Monday 5th May 2008 in

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For every request for increased spending on services, such as county councillor Barbara Gatehouse's letter (Oxford Mail, April 24) claiming that adult social care will be underfunded in future years, I get another letter from people saying that council tax is too high and is causing hardship to people on lower incomes or living on their pensions.

Every budget must therefore strike a balance between the needs of service users and the cost to be borne by council taxpayers.

In Oxfordshire, council tax for county services has risen under the Labour Government from £487 at band D in 1997 to £1,089 this year.

This is a whopping increase of 124 per cent over the 11 years of Labour's 'smoke and mirrors' financial management.

Council tax has been used by this Government as a stealth tax to fund its increased spending.

It has also been used to reward its friends in the North of England by transferring grant money away from authorities in the South East of England to profligate Labour-controlled councils elsewhere.

The largest single transfer took place in 2003 when the Government changed the formula for allocating grant, calling it Resource Equalisation, which put up the council tax in Oxfordshire by 13.4 per cent.

The recent Government review of spending increases Oxfordshire's grant by only two per cent this year and 1.75 per cent and 1.5 per cent for the following two years, well below the rate of inflation.

It makes no allowance whatsoever for the additional costs of caring for more elderly people, referred to in council papers as the costs of demographic change.

Mrs Gatehouse neglects to acknowledge that Conservatives have this year invested an additional £2.8m for each future year and £4m in capital expenditure over three years in social care for adults.

The Conservative budget increased council tax by 3.875 per cent, while the Labour group's proposals would have been even higher with a 4.175 per cent increase.

The Conservative manifesto in 2005 promised that we would reduce the increase in council tax year on year and make personal social care for older people a high-quality service delivered with dignity and security.

Over the past three years, we have delivered on those promises and will continue to do so.

Charles Shouler

Cabinet member for finance and property

Oxfordshire County Council