Morecambe MP to bring petition to Parliament after residents demand action over "rip-off" Council tax

The Morecambe MP is set to bring a petition before Parliament after residents demanded their money back over a long-running Council tax controversy in the town.

David Morris said he'd had a "staggering" response to a survey of Morecambe residents over last year's Morecambe Town Council tax rise, and that the town's people were being "ripped off".

In a speech in Parliament, the MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale said the town council's 231 per cent increase in its share of 2023/24 Council tax was believed to be the highest in Britain.

Mr Morris said residents told him: "I cannot believe they took money without consulting first. It's hard enough paying council tax as a single pensioner as it is. I hope this extra money we have paid will be reimbursed. I have no idea of how this has happened. Yes I want my money back."

Morecambe Town Council raised an extra million pounds from taxpayers, hoping to be part of a race to develop the Frontierland site in Morecambe.

But the council then pulled out, withdrawing its expression of interest in the land, but with the £1m 'Community Action Fund' remaining in its coffers.

They have plans to use £150,000 to fund a Council tax cut for 2024/25, but intend to keep the rest in their reserves for now.

A leading town councillor, though, has promised the council will "review the situation year-on-year and hopefully do something similar to ease the burden on council taxpayers in following years".

Mr Morris, in his speech in Westminster Hall on Wednesday, said: "I decided to write to every household in the Morecambe area to ask if they supported the increase or if they even knew about it beforehand."

He said 3919 people replied, which "shows the strength of feeling on this issue", and only three per cent of respondents said they knew about the Council tax rise before bills arrived last spring.

Mr Morris also criticised Morecambe Town Council's proposed budget for the upcoming year, which suggests cutting its share of Council tax by 33 per cent, but stops well short of covering last year's "immense" rise for taxpayers.

He said their predicted expenditure for 2024/25 of more than £1.1m, and proposed Council tax precept of more than £950,000, were "mind-blowing amounts" for a small parish council.

Read more on the 2024/25 budget proposals here: 

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

Mr Morris said: "I challenge Morecambe Town Council to demonstrate to my community how they are a provider of a value for money (service).

"I urge the town council to stop empire building at the expense of Morecambe residents.

"I want to know what the government is going to do to stop my community from being ripped off."

This is the second time Mr Morris has raised the 'Frontierland tax' issue in Parliament, following a previous speech in April 2023.

Read more: Morecambe Town Council hits back after MP rips into 'Frontierland tax' rise in Westminster speech - Beyond Radio

He plans to present a petition in Westminster later today (January 18) from the huge response to the letters he sent to residents.

Simon Hoare, Minister for Local Government, responding to Mr Morris in Parliament yesterday, said his speech had "shone light on a cloudy story that needs further investigation" and was "clearly causing a great deal of distress to residents".

"The question has to be, what happens to the precept that people of Morecambe have paid and is now sitting on the balance sheet of Morecambe Town Council?" said Mr Hoare.

"I shall be writing to the town clerk of Morecambe Town Council to get a much clearer picture of the history of this activity and what they are proposing to do with this large sum of money sitting in their accounts, raised for a specific purpose which has become obsolete."

WHY NO REFUND?

Meanwhile a leading town councillor has explained why the budget proposals do not provide Morecambe residents with a full refund on the 2023/24 tax rise.

In a statement sent to Beyond Radio, Councillor Geoff Knight of the Morecambe Bay Independents (MBIs) said: 

"In May ‘23, the Morecambe Bay Independents inherited unrealistic ambitions set by the previous administration. 

"Our first task was to withdraw Morecambe Town Council's Expression of Interest in the former Frontierland site and bring the council back onto a more stable financial footing to avoid anomalous year-on-year fluctuations in the precept.

"We have also been looking at ways of returning to the council taxpayer the monies obtained last year. As no financial mechanism exists to do this, we have had to seek legal advice to examine other options. 

"It became transparent that the previous administration had failed last year to set a realistic precept to cover this year’s expenditure budget (i.e. the MTC 2023/24 precept minus the Frontierland Community Fund). We have therefore been advised that it would not be financially prudent to return all the monies this year as this would have serious repercussions on the following year-on-year precepts. 

"By setting a more realistic expenditure budget this year, we will be able to deliver all the services set by the previous administration. Furthermore, by subsidising it with £150,000 of the monies raised last year, we can return some of the monies held in reserves to the council taxpayer.

"The remaining £850,000 raised last year is safely stored in general reserves and we have absolutely no intention of squandering it on any vanity projects. We will review the situation year-on-year and hopefully do something similar to ease the burden on council taxpayers in following years."

THE FRONTIERLAND TAX

Morecambe Town Council raised an extra £1m from Council tax in 2023/24, on top of its regular precept.

This was to create a 'Community Action Fund' reserve to support the future use of the Frontierland site.

Owner Lancaster City Council was looking for ideas to develop the eyesore Marine Road West site (pictured below) and the town council put forward its own plans on behalf of the people of Morecambe, wanting to use the £1m to leverage more funding in future.

But opponents of the plan said this was "double taxation" as the city council owned the land.

The U-turn on Frontierland was mainly due to the Morecambe Bay Independents (MBIs), who had opposed the tax rise, becoming the majority group on the town council after the local elections in May.

The council withdrew its expression of interest in the land in July, and sought legal advice on how to reallocate the £1m.

Prior to the elections, when the decision to raise the £1m was made, the Liberal Democrats had the largest group on the council but there was no overall control.

MORECAMBE TOWN COUNCIL STATEMENT ON ITS 2024/5 BUDGET

"Morecambe Town Council is confident it can deliver a balanced budget whilst providing a year-on-year saving for its residents through a reduction in the council’s precept of £48.69 (33%), rolling back 47.7% of last year’s increase," said a statement published on the town council website.

"Morecambe Town Council has gone through a rapid period of growth over the last three years, with annual precept increases required to reflect this.

"These would have been less significant if there had been reasonable annual increments applied during the past 14 years. 

"This also reduced the council’s ability to build an adequate reserve, as the precept was primarily required to resource the council’s annual expenditure.  

"During this period the council’s role was primarily a reactive one, responsible for distribution of community grants and management of the occasional event. The level of staffing and budget reflected this. 

"Across a similar period (from 2007 to present day) the second-tier authority, Lancaster City Council, experienced a near 40 per cent cut in central government funding while the thirdtier authority, Lancashire County Council, had to regularly find multi-million-pound savings. 

"In reaction to these circumstances, Morecambe Town Council resolved to try and play a more proactive role and reduce the potential risk of watching a decline of services in Morecambe.

"This resulted in consecutive c.50 per cent rises in the precept, bringing it to £44.11 in 2022-23 - still £33.10 below the national average. 

"For 2023-2024, the council set a revenue budget of £739,000 (including VAT). It also raised a £1m Community Action Fund (CAF) to pursue a regeneration project on the former Frontierland site. 

"Whilst the council ‘froze’ the precept collected in 2023-2024 for its revenue budget, it required an overall increase in the precept of 231 per cent to raise the CAF. 

"Since collecting the CAF Reserve, a new administration has been elected and a new direction established, exploring alternative ways of responding to current community needs. 

"Discussions have been held with elected representatives regarding the reallocation of CAF funds, and careful consideration has been given to all options by the council’s Finance and Governance Committee, with their recommendation following. 

"Councils are recommended to hold a minimum of 25 per cent of annual expenditure as a General Reserve.  

"Prior to 2021 and the significant period of growth that followed, the council held little to no reserves.

"In order to raise the CAF in 2023/24, the council pooled all its reserves. Had the council not raised the £1m, it would still have had to raise the precept by approximately £70 per Band D household across the following two years to resource the expanded services delivered by the council and create a minimum general reserve of 25 per cent against projected annual expenditure.

"Now that Morecambe Town Council is delivering such a significant service for the town, particularly via the work of the Town Rangers, it is more important that general reserves are maintained at the level required to safeguard that (and other) services."

The town council has the contract to provide weeding services for the whole of the Lancaster and Morecambe district.

Read more: INTERVIEWS: Meet the Town Rangers team on a clean-up mission to tackle unsightly weeds - Beyond Radio

MORECAMBE TOWN COUNCIL 2024/5 BUDGET PROPOSALS

The recommendations are that the council sets its 2024/25 budget at £1,164,680, that it uses £150,000 from its general reserves to subsidise the budget, and that it sets its precept at £951,384.33.

The budget proposals include money for staffing, office equipment, renting an office at Morecambe Town Hall, audits, training, an overhaul of the town council website, tourism due to concerns over the closure of Morecambe Visitor Information Centre, grants for local festivals and community groups, a grant for the Baylight festival in Morecambe, putting on the council's own events, weed control, and town maintenance and improvements.

CARRIED FORWARD FROM 2023/24 - £1,000,195.70

GENERAL RESERVE in 2024-2025 - £850,195.70

SUBSIDY FROM RESERVE FOR BUDGET - £150,000.00

PREDICTED EXPENDITURE - £1,164,680.00

BUDGETED INCOME -  £63,295.67

COUNCIL TAX PRECEPT - £951,384.33

BUDGET SUMMARY

OFFICE RENT - £25,000

STAFFING - £275,000

ADMIN and OFFICE SUPPLIES - £15,000

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES - £15,000

INSURANCE - £5,000

AUDITS - £15,000

TRAINING - £6,000

ELECTION COSTS - £31,000

IT INFRASTRUCTURE - £15,000

CIVIC EXPENSES - £2,500

COMMUNITY GRANTS - £35,000

NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN - £5,000

CULTURAL SERVICES

FESTIVALS/EVENTS - £60,000

MORECAMBE LIGHTS - £20,000

COUNCIL EVENTS - £60,000

STAFFING/CASUAL - £59,000

TOWN MAINTENANCE

WEEDING SERVICES RECEIPTS - +63,295.67

EQUIPMENT PURCHASE - £80,000

PUBLIC REALM STAFF - £225,000

FLEET/EQUIPMENT REPAIRS - £5,000

MOTOR INSURANCE - £2,000

WEED CONTROL (LCC) - £10,000

WEED CONTROL (MTC) - £10,000

IT SOFTWARE/MOBILES - £10,000

CASUAL STAFF - £30,680

PPE- £5,000

PUBLIC REALM ENHANCEMENTS - £50,000

CONTINGENCY - £16,500

ALLOTMENTS (the council owns North Heysham and West End Allotment sites) - £2,500

COMMUNICATION

GENERAL COMMUNICATION - £15,000

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT - £15,000

WEBSITE - £22,000

TOURISM - £5,000

COUNCIL TAX

Morecambe Town Council is a parish council, formed in 2009. It is completely separate tier of government to Lancaster City Council and Lancashire County Council.

Council Tax in Morecambe is divided between the town council, Lancashire County Council, Lancaster City Council, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire, Adult and Social Care, and Lancashire Fire Authority.

The county council gets the lion's share of Council Tax (around 73 per cent). The town council's proportion is only small in comparison.

Lancaster City Council is proposing to increase its 11 per cent share of Council Tax in 2024/25 by 2.99 per cent, the maximum allowable by the government. The other authorities' precepts will be confirmed soon. 

There is no government cap restricting how much town and parish councils can increase their precept.

The proposed total Morecambe Town Council precept for 2024/25 would be £951,384.33.

Last year the precept was £431,853.66 - plus the one million pounds - so £1,431,853.66 was raised from Morecambe taxpayers for the town council 

In 2022/23, it was £425,250.45.

The annual precept for individual households is proposed to be set in 2024/25 at £97.56 for a Band D property, a reduction of £48.69 from 2023/24.

This is more than double the £44.11 charged in 2022/23.

For 2024/25, the proposed Morecambe Town Council tax for the different property bands is:

Band A - £65.37

Band B - £76.10

Band C - £86.83

Band D - £97.56

The town council raised £282,245 from the precept in 2021/22, and previously the annual precept had never gone above £300,000 in the history of the council. Between 2013/2014 and 2020/2021, it had not risen above £200,000 per year.

Here is all the background to this story from 2023.

Read more: Morecambe Town Council to raise £1m from taxpayers in attempt to acquire Frontierland - Beyond Radio

MP to lead Parliamentary debate on Morecambe Town Council tax rise - Beyond Radio

Morecambe Town Council hits back after MP rips into 'Frontierland tax' rise in Westminster speech - Beyond Radio

Row over Frontierland rumbles on as Morecambe councillor labels tax rise "disgusting" - Beyond Radio