[NSC] Council Tax what band and charge,more so is it VFM ?

[Leekbrookgull]

Staffordshire Moorlands 3bed semi Cul-de-Sac on a private access road up £100 to £1,700 on the guise of social care. Like many will pay but just make sure any increase let alone basic spend is front line and not admin/red tape.

 

[Super Steve Earle]

No, it's not value for money. I can't help thinking it goes towards the gold plated pensions for shed loads of council staff to plan cycle lanes .

 

[Beach Hut]

It must be 17:15 on a weekday on BBC1 again

 

[Cheshire Cat]

You can't do the front line without the admin. How do you think they get paid, or buy the stuff they use on the front line?

 

[Sirnormangall]

No, it's not value for money. I can't help thinking it goes towards the gold plated pensions for shed loads of council staff to plan cycle lanes .

I agree - disproportionate amount is probably required to support final salary pension schemes.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I agree - disproportionate amount is probably required to support final salary pension schemes.

Jealous [emoji867]

 

[Bodian]

I agree - disproportionate amount is probably required to support final salary pension schemes.

Jealous [emoji867]

And very few local government pension schemes are final salary based now anyway.

 

[Nitram]

If the government properly funded social care and integrated it with the NHS then the councils would not have to keep raising the council tax. Also not helped by the government decreasing grants years by year to councils.
The increase wont be solely for social care either but for extra costs to other areas paid by the council tax such as Fire & Police.
Easy target to bash councils for central government decisions.

 

[usernamed]

If the government properly funded social care and integrated it with the NHS then the councils would not have to keep raising the council tax. Also not helped by the government decreasing grants years by year to councils.
The increase wont be solely for social care either but for extra costs to other areas paid by the council tax such as Fire & Police.
Easy target to bash councils for central government decisions.

This.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

I agree - disproportionate amount is probably required to support final salary pension schemes.

Do they exist any more? Mine was forcibly switched to average salary about 7 years ago.

Anyway the rates were changed to the poll tax (and its successors) so that labour councils could no longer soak the rich, a very long time ago. To achieve this a lot of spending and management was switched to national/central. The idea that a tax can be set locally in order to feather bed council employers is far fetched.

My 'rates' have increased more than 20 fold in the last 30 years (same property) while my salary has increased 4 fold. And oddly my ratable value is based on a 1992 estimate of the property value. If I paid the 'correct' local tax it would really hurt. The whole thing is potty if you ask me.

I have aways favoured a flat rate (%) income tax, same for everyone, no exceptions, and no soppy local taxes. Lefties like one of my brother object because 'it isn't fair that if poor person pays say 10% of £10,000 if a rich person pays the same 10% on an income of a million pounds'. That's what you get for an upper second class degree from a top 5 UK university - in English. Meanwhile right wingers favour complex tax systems that allow a good tax accountant to minimise the hit to Lord Vesty levels (Vesty famously paid £10 in income tax one year).

The average person in the UK is far too innumerate, venal and deluded to understand that a simple overhaul of tax and spend could transform public services and make everything 'fair'. Still, an automated income tax system would put literally millions of administrative staff, tax advisors and the like out of work, so get used to the status quo. Inertia is a law of physics, not economics let alone politics.

 

[beorhthelm]

I have aways favoured a flat rate (%) income tax, same for everyone, no exceptions, and no soppy local taxes. Lefties like one of my brother object because 'it isn't fair that if poor person pays say 10% of £10,000 if a rich person pays the same 10% on an income of a million pounds'. That's what you get for an upper second class degree from a top 5 UK university - in English. Meanwhile right wingers favour complex tax systems that allow a good tax accountant to minimise the hit to Lord Vesty levels (Vesty famously paid £10 in income tax one year).

the right would prefer simpler, flatter taxes (as well as lower usually). you are correct that the biggest obstacle to this is HMRC, legions of accountants and consultants who'd find less work with a simple tax system.

the council pensions are a nightmare, too many schemes and high liabilities, defined benefit is expensive and the employer has to keep topping up. dont recall the numbers when i last read they were very scary and a significant burden on council finances (or other public sector).

social care will need an overhaul and central government intervention. talk of nationalised social care will be difficult when so much is currently private provision. all the current private cost will get lumped onto the state, unless means tested. and we are very averse in this country to means testing state benefits, so it fails to move forward.

 

[Nitram]

Means testing for paying for Social Care already exists as anyone who has an elderly parent will know. What needs to be in place is proper integration between NHS and Social Care provision and adequate funding for both. At the moment NHS and Social Care are separate and can compete against each other for resources which leaves the person being assessed being served by neither. The whole system is a complete mess.

 

[Sirnormangall]

Jealous [emoji867]

Not at all. DB schemes were a great invention, but became far too expensive due largely to people living longer. Very few employers now offer such generous schemes, but still have to support the old / existing schemes. Sadly, it will be the younger generation that will suffer from inferior pension schemes, not my generation.

 

[Bodian]

The OP question was 'is it value for money'? Thinking about this - my council tax bill is £1,600

https://www.clearabee.co.uk/news/how-much-does-rubbish-removal-cost "How much would it cost to have my bins emptied? Our wheelie bin emptying service operates on a next-day basis. Orders placed before 10pm will be collected during the very next day, as long as the bins are left out before 8am. The cost of bin collections are £29.99 for a 140 litre wheelie bin, £34.99 for a 240L wheelie bin (the standard size across the UK) and £39.99 for a large 360 litre wheelie bin. "

So - that's £30 for a wheelie bin. We have a weekly bin collection (rubbish / green waste alternating) - so paying a private company to do what the council does would cost me £1,560

So - yes VFM - as the council do far more than just collect my bins! Although I don't agree with a lot of their planning decisions - but that's another matter!