Labour Livingstone Takes 5.5% More (Islington Liberal Democrats)

Islington Liberal Democrats <Islington_ld@cix.co.uk>

Labour Livingstone Takes 5.5% More

February 23, 2006 12:00 AM

Islington Lib Dems freeze council tax, but Labour Livingstone takes 5.5% more

The amount of money Islington residents pay to Ken Livingstone will rise by 5.5% this year. Lib Dem members of the GLA voted against this hefty increase.

This is in addition to the Olympics precept of £20 which all Londoners have to pay.

In total this 13.3% rise will put an extra £39 on a Band D council tax bill.

This means that despite local Lib Dems working hard to keep council expenditure down and giving residents a 0% council tax rise, local people will still see a rise in their bills thanks solely to Mr Livingstone.

Lib Dem Councillor Arnie Gibbons, Exec Member for Resources, said;

"Mr Livingstone has maintained his record of having a rise every year way above inflation- this year with a 5.5% rise. This is the 6th year in a row that the GLA has increased council tax by more than Islington.

"How much more can Londoners be expected to pay? Lib Dems on the GLA proposed a much smaller rise of 2.9% which would have matched Mr Livingstone's funding for the police but cut waste and expenditure on PR stunts for City Hall.

"The Labour Mayor's lavish spending goes against all the hard work that Local Lib Dems have done to keep costs low for local people."

Councillor Laura Willoughby said:

"We have been behind the Olympics from the start and Londoners knew that they would see a rise in their bills this year to fund that.

"Knowing the burden this would put on many Londoners the Labour Mayor should have been working hard to keep City Hall's costs down to a minimum. Instead he has gone for a maximum increase for himself, ignoring the waste and inefficiencies in TfL and City Hall."

Lib Dems would:

1) Cut the Mayor's spending on concerts, parties, conferences and rallies which has grown to £5million for 2006-07.

2) Cut The Londoner newspaper costs which are currently £3.1million

3) reduced the £2.5m is budget for the next financial year for the Mayor to spend on communications/marketing/advertising and press expenditure.

Since 2000 Ken Livingstone has increased his precept by 135%. In 2000/1 it was £123, in 2006/7 it will be £289.

The precept, which goes to the Mayor and GLA, is part of the Council Tax that Islington residents will pay, but Islington Council has no control over its level.