Labour's Jo Lovelock, Leader of Reading Borough Council, writes: "The truth is that the Tories' boasts about Council Tax are bogus - and they couldn't even organise themselves to be in the right room to vote!
"his First Person in Wednesday's Reading Post the Conservative Leader Andrew Cumpsty asked why Labour wasn't freezing Council Tax, presumably written before the Council meeting, given the press deadlines!
"If I thought we could freeze council tax and not have to cut services to the elderly and children, does he not think I would do the populist thing? We know household budgets are tight and we have worked hard to keep the increase down as far as possible. However to freeze Council Tax in Reading would have meant cutting the budget by £1,400,000, and there was no way of doing that without cutting public services.
"We know there is no way of doing that, because although Councillor Cumpsty and his group kept the Council's budget meeting on Tuesday going till 11.30 p.m. they did not in that whole five hours put forward any suggestions as to how it should actually be done! Nor did the LibDems, though they too talked of wanting a freeze and asked the Conservatives to suggest how that could be done without cutting services, seemingly have no hint of an idea of their own.
"As he did last year Cllr Cumpsty went on about unspecific efficiency savings and looking for value for money, but as Labour's budget also included a further £7.2million of genuine efficiency savings, to add to the £14million of ongoing savings secured over the past four years, he knew his protestations were the usual empty rhetoric we have come to expect.
"Labour's proposal for a 2.2% increase (an average increase of just 29p a week or 53p at band D) went through because the other parties could come up with no alternative and because the Tories could not even manage to come back to the council chamber to vote!
"There should be no surprise that the Tories made no attempt at findings savings to support their empty claims. In Conservative West Berkshire, to our west, and Conservative Wokingham, to our east, Council Tax has gone up, not by zero, but by 1.9%, which is as near to our figure as makes virtually no difference.
"If you look at the actual level of Council Tax rather than the increase, people in Reading are paying less in Council Tax than people in outer Tilehurst and Calcot and very little more than in Wokingham. Their Band D Council tax levels look set to be £1499 and £1461 respectively, compared with Reading's £1498. If you look at the average council tax the picture is even more stark: Woodley residents pay an average of £1537 and in outer Tilehurst and Calcot West Berkshire people pay an average of £1472 - the average in Reading is £1204.
"Not only do around 2700 elderly people and those with a disability in Reading receive support they would not get in those Tory areas because of their cuts, but Reading residents also get far more services such as libraries, swimming pools, sports facilities, museum, theatres, support for the voluntary sector (another cut in Tory West Berkshire) and many other things too numerous to list here.
"Labour in Reading believes in investing in our schools and our children's future. Since we became responsible for education, we have invested a third as much again in Prospect School alone as West Berkshire has in the 16 schools in the Calcot and outer Tilehurst part of their area.
"I could go on, but the lesson is clear. Never mind what the Tories say, look at what they do. Look at what they actually do in other Berkshire councils and still not manage to keep the council tax frozen! Labour is the best choice for Reading."
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