Lone councillor who voted against Council tax rise says "I wanted to get up and walk out"

The only councillor who voted against a Council tax rise for the Lancaster District says he's "here for the people, not to rob them blind".

Councillor Phil Bradley was also the only person to vote against a three per cent rise in allowances for councillors, saying he will donate his increase to St John's Hospice.

Councillor Bradley, who represents Heysham South for Labour, said he thought voting for a Council tax rise was "shocking" during a cost of living crisis.

All other councillors at Wednesday night's meeting at Morecambe Town Hall, across all parties, agreed to raise Lancaster City Council's share of Council tax by 2.99 per cent, the maximum allowable by the government without a referendum.

This means an annual payment on a Band D property will rise from £249.18 to £256.63 on residents' bills in 2024/25.

The increase will raise an extra £317,264 for the council.

The council leader said there is "no other way to meet the difficulties" in the upcoming budget.

But Councillor Bradley, who was elected onto the council for the first time last May, said: "I can't believe they have gone through with it."

Speaking to Beyond Radio, he said: "I wanted to get up and walk out.

"I felt quite embarrassed that they were doing it.

"When I went knocking on people's doors before the elections, I promised those people I would support them.

"When I heard the Council tax was going up, I thought it was shocking.

"They say we are under a cost of living crisis. Yet the city council is happy to spend money here, there and everywhere.

"Somebody told me it was down to inflation. But the whole district is stuck with inflation.

"I'm here for the people, I'm not here to rob them blind.

"I wil not accept or agree to put their Council tax up, for what they get."

Also at Wednesday's meeting, all councillors - except Councillor Bradley - also agreed that the basic allowance for councillors should be increased by three per cent from £4,200 per year to £4,326 with effect from April 5. This had been recommended by an independent panel.

Special Responsibility Allowances will also be increased by three per cent.

Councillors receive a basic allowance to support their work as members of the local authority, and those with a specific role may also receive a special responsibility allowance. 

But Councillor Bradley, after voting against the increase, said: "My sister-in-law passed away at St John's Hospice. That's where my money will go to, I'll donate it to the hospice."

Next month, Lancaster City Council will vote on its 2024/25 budget.

Proposals include a 10 per cent rise in car parking fees in council-run car parks, a £4 annual increase in garden waste collection charges and a review of prices at Salt Ayre Sports Centre. But, the council said, the proposals would balance their budget without any need to cut frontline services and enable them to spend on other projects.

These include an expansion of the Lancaster City Museum shop, and restoring the customer service desk at Lancaster and Morecambe Town Halls to full-time hours. 

A council report said that failure to deliver their budget proposals, including the Council tax rise, would "represent a significant risk to the council as any shortfall would result in further financial pressures in 2025/26 and beyond".

Figures show that their budget gap could rise to £5.3m by 2028/29 if no action was taken.

But Councillor Bradley said: "On one hand they're saying we're not one of these councils who are badly off. On the other they're saying we're worried about debt. Why are we funding things if we've got no money?

"I know the people of Heysham will not be happy with the Council tax rise.

"People (in the council chamber) were giving me dirty looks but I'm not bothered. They need to wake up to reality. I'll say it like it is."

Councillors voting in favour were: Abuhajar, Ainscough, Bannon, Belcher, Black (Matthew), Black (Phil), Blaikie, Brookes, Budden, Cleet, Colbridge, Dennison, Dowding, Fish, Gardiner, Gawith, Greenwell, Hamilton-Cox, Hanna, Hanson, Harris, Hart, Hartley, Hunter, Jackson (Caroline), Jackson, (Peter), Lenox, Livermore, Maddocks (Sally), Maddocks (Sophie), McGowan, Mills (Abi), Newton, Pattison, Penney, Potter, Pritchard, Punshon, Riches, Russell, Sommerville, Stubbins, Thornberry, Tyldesley, Tynan, Whitaker, Wild, Wilkinson and Wood.

Speaking at Wednesday's meeting, Councillor Phillip Black, leader of the council from Labour (pictured below) said: "At a time when our residents are facing a cost of living crisis, none of us want to be pushing up the Council tax burden on them.

"However there is no other way that we can meet the difficulties that we're facing in this budget without having to do some things that would be decidedly unpalatable.

"I take a small measure of comfort from the fact that for a Band D property it works out something like a 14p increase per week, and we voted through a continuation of the Council tax support scheme whereby those residents who are struggling the most will be able to get up to 100 per cent of their Council tax bill covered, which is not common amongst most District councils."

Councillor Black also spoke about his "continued frustration that the government refuses to fund us as it has done traditionally, and forces an increased Council tax burden on our residents" and accused them of "tax by stealth".

On dealing with the defecit in future years, he said: "The plan is very much to do something, not to do nothing.

"While we have recognised there are difficult financial times ahead, there is very much a wealth of motivation to step up and implement changes that deal with it."

Read more on this year's proposed Lancaster City Council budget here:

Car parking charges and garden waste fees to rise in Lancaster City Council budget proposals - Beyond Radio

Lancaster City Council is run by a coalition cabinet of Labour, Green and Liberal Democrat councillors.

There are also Conservative, Morecambe Bay Independent, and independent members on the council.

The city council's share of Council tax works out at around 11 per cent of an overall bill, with the rest going to Lancashire County Council, the police, the fire service and parish councils such as Morecambe Town Council.

Morecambe Town Council has agreed to cut its share of Council tax by 33 per cent for 2024/25. But this, in itself, has proven controversial due to last year's massive 231 per cent increase.

Read more: Morecambe Town Council proposes tax cut but no full refund of controversial £1m Frontierland hike - Beyond Radio

Lancashire County Council, which charges the biggest proportion of Council tax for Lancaster District residents; and the police and fire services, will decide their Council tax precepts for 2024/25 in due course. 

*Lancaster City Council's Budget and Performance Panel will consider its budget proposals at its meeting on Wednesday January 31 at Morecambe Town Hall, starting at 6pm, and everyone is invited to attend.