Row over 'Frontierland tax' escalates as MP and Morecambe Town Council clash once again

The row over the £1m 'Frontierland tax' continues to rumble on after another clash between the Morecambe MP and the town council.

The chair of Morecambe Town Council has sent a lengthy letter to the Minister for Local Government in response to what she says is "misinformation" by David Morris.

Meanwhile Mr Morris was pictured outside Morecambe Town Hall on Thursday night with a banner calling for residents to be given back money raised from Council tax towards a now abandoned project on the former Wild West theme park site.

The MP said, in a post on his Facebook page on Thursday: "Tonight I have been at Morecambe Town Hall supporting residents who are fed up with Morecambe Town Council’s finances.

"They put up Council tax last year by 231% to create a fund to buy Frontierland, even though it was never for sale.

"They have realised that now but instead of giving money back to residents they want to keep it.

"It’s totally unacceptable and the Labour and Lib Dem town council who have stolen this money from people need to find a way to give it back. I fully support residents in their efforts and will do everything in my power to help them bring the council to account."

The £1m 'Community Action Fund', dubbed 'the Frontierland tax, has caused major controversy with residents.

The town council has now done a U-turn on its plans for Frontierland, but says the money was NOT raised to 'buy' the land on Marine Road.

The council says there is no way of refunding the money in one go and said it is taking a "sensible, pragmatic approach" to returning the cash to taxpayers.

Bills arriving on Morecambe doorsteps this week showed a 33 per cent year-on-year drop in Morecambe Town Council's share of tax, although this remains some way short of a full reimbursement of last year's rise.

Mr Morris, who has twice spoken out against the £1m tax rise and the town council in general, in speeches at Westminster, said the council's letter to the Minister was "a work of fiction".

Read more: Morecambe MP to bring petition to Parliament after residents demand action over "rip-off" Council tax - Beyond Radio

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

DID MORECAMBE TOWN COUNCIL WANT TO BUY FRONTIERLAND?

Back in February 2023, the town council, announcing the decision to raise the £1m, said it wanted to "mobilise acquisition" of the land.

The land is owned by Lancaster City Council, who bought it for £3m in 2021. 

In September 2022, the city council asked for 'expressions of interest' from developers and organisations who might want to regenerate the site, and the town council decided to put its name in the hat.

The initial decision to raise the £1m 'Frontierland tax' was made by a town council made up of Liberal Democrats (who had the largest group at the time), Labour and independent councillors, with only Morecambe Bay Independents voting against the tax rise.

The chair of the council at the time was Cary Matthews, an independent.

Morecambe Town Council's statement at the time of the decision to raise the £1m said:

"After sitting derelict for over 20 years, Frontierland could receive long anticipated regeneration as Morecambe Town Council bids to safeguard its future with a £1m Community Action Fund.

"At a budget meeting held on 23 February, members voted to freeze the amount of Council tax levied to resource the council’s revenue budget, making way for a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ Community Action Fund to be raised to mobilise the acquisition of the former Frontierland site from Lancaster City Council."

This is how Beyond Radio reported the news at the time.

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

But the town council has clarified that by saying it wanted to 'mobilise acquisition' of the land, this didn't mean the council wanted to buy it.

The council has also denied claims of "double taxation" made by Mr Morris, a Conservative.

Simon Hoare, Minister for Local Government, has written to the town council asking for an explanation and Councillor Claire Cozler (pictured below), chair of the town council from Labour, has sent a reply.

"It needs to be clearly understood that the money was not raised to purchase land," said Councillor Cozler in the letter, writing on behalf of the town council.

"Cabinet members of Lancaster City Council had indicated willingness to explore gifting a portion of the land to the community if the City Council were able to secure an adequate receipt for other parcels of the land, and provided there was a viable project and sufficient funding available.

"The Fund was therefore raised to:   

• provide the necessary demonstration of funds to Lancaster City Council to prove a viable project could be achieved 
• develop a viable project based on the community’s ideas and – had it been approved by City Council – deliver it 
• act as seed money against other funding sources to help fully fund the project. 

"None of these things had been or would have been done or paid for by any other public body and so do not constitute double taxation."

WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THE ELECTIONS

Months after Morecambe residents were billed for a 231 per cent rise in the town council's share of Council tax, the council did a U-turn on Frontierland after many new councillors were voted in at the May 2023 elections.

The Morecambe Bay Independents (MBIs), opponents of the tax rise, now have the largest group on the town council, and there are also Labour, Liberal Democrat and independent councillors.

In July 2023, the town council decided to pull out of any plans to put forward an 'expression of interest' on how to develop the derelict land, and look for a way to refund taxpayers.

Read more: Morecambe Town Council makes bombshell U-turn on Frontierland plan - Beyond Radio

The council was told there was no direct way to refund the money, so instead decided to cut its share of Council tax by 33 per cent in 2024/25.

From the £1m, £150,000 was used to fund a Council tax reduction, leaving £850,000 in the town council's reserves.

Councillors have said they will continue to look at how to "trickle back" more of the money to residents in future years.

But this has infuriated some taxpayers, who can't understand why the 2024/5 Council tax couldn't have been reduced to a level equivalent to refunding the money in full.

Read more: "It's wrong...give people their money back" plea over Morecambe Town Council tax controversy - Beyond Radio

WILL THE TOWN COUNCIL RETURN THE MONEY?

In the letter to Mr Hoare, Councillor Cozler also wrote: "The £1m Community Action Fund (CAF) was created via a significant rise in the precept in 2023-24 for the purpose of a proposed community project on the Frontierland site.

"Raising funds in this way is not unusual. A town/parish council has no direct access to government funding. The only way it can enact a step-change in service delivery (which is actively encouraged by the localism act) or fund a significant one-off project in the hope of making a meaningful difference to its local community is by increasing the precept. And this is what Morecambe Town Council did."

On the subject of potentially refunding the money to taxpayers, she wrote:

"A new council administration entered role following elections in May 2023 and resolved to change its direction regarding the Frontierland site, creating the question of what to do with the CAF.

"The council received advice from the National Association of Local Councils that it would be reasonable to reallocate this money as the council saw fit, given the original purpose for which it was raised was no longer applicable.

"Following the Government's own guidance on fiscal responsibility, local councils are advised to hold between 25% and 100% of projected net revenue expenditure as general reserves, taking into account their size, situation and risks.

"With the general reserve at £0 at the commencement of 23-24, the council subsequently resolved to reallocate the entirety of the CAF to re-establish general reserves ahead of the 2024-25 budget-setting process, which is within the advised 25%-100% bracket.

"In the budget subsequently approved, it was resolved to use £150,000 of the general reserve to subsidise the precept this year. 

"Councils are obliged to deliver a balanced budget that generates enough income to cover planned expenditure. Therefore it wouldn’t have been possible to reduce the precept to £0 as suggested by the Minister.

"The projected expenditure for 2024-25, being in excess of £1m, was more than the amount now held in reserves. Without any income via the precept for the year, the council would run out of money during the year once the general reserve was depleted.

"Knowingly embarking on this path would be financially irresponsible and unlawful, as the council cannot set a deficit budget. 

"Attempting to return the full £1m in a single precept subsidy would present a similar issue.

"The general reserve would be completely depleted and the resulting nominal Band D precept of £10.40 would leave no margin for error or unanticipated costs in year, seriously jeopardising service delivery.

"Furthermore, the following year the council would have to raise the precept back up to over £140 in order to set a balanced budget against an anticipated similar projected expenditure while rebuilding a minimum advisable level of reserve.

"This would be painted as a 1273% tax increase and no doubt result in similar protestations and vilification from Mr Morris. 

"The council has already demonstrated that it is committed to returning a proportion of the CAF to the taxpayer, but doing so in a manner that doesn’t neglect its fiscal responsibility to safeguard services and avoiding repeated vast fluctuations in the precept year on year.

"It believes the only practical and achievable mechanism for ‘returning’ money to the taxpayer is through subsidising the precept."

The council has kept £850,000 in its coffers, having been recommended to keep a minimum of 25 per cent of annual expenditure as a General Reserve.

"(The council) believes it is taking a sensible, pragmatic approach by returning £150,000 via a subsidy of the precept this year and holding the remaining £850,000 in general reserve while the council considers the most appropriate course of action for future years," said the letter.

"With over three quarters of members new to the council, this allows time and opportunity to adequately understand and consider the council’s finances and operation, fully consider costs for any projects in incubation, and consider additional subsidy of the precept in future years."

The council's predicted spend for 2024/25 is just over £1.1million. This includes £464,180 on town maintenance, £199,000 on cultural services, £35,000 on community grants, £57,000 on community engagement, £404,500 on corporate services, and £5,000 on planning and regeneration.

On the improvements in providing services to the people of Morecambe, the letter said:

"Morecambe Town Council now has a team of Town Rangers delivering public realm improvements around the town; a service which receives an overwhelmingly positive response and is highly valued by residents for providing cleaner, safer streets, restoring and maintaining much-needed civic pride. The Council provides vital funding for services from foodbanks and homeless shelters to sports clubs and creative communities through community grants; and it supports the town’s vibrant festivals and events scene, which does so much to stimulate the local economy, through grant awards and producing its own events, including the much-heralded Coronation Carnival last year."

The letter also says: "Morecambe Town Council is keen to point out it has previously invited Mr Morris to come and discuss its operation, funding, and the challenges facing the town and parish council sector on a number of occasions – both publicly and privately.

"Unfortunately it has not yet been taken up on this offer.

"It would undoubtedly be in the public interest for this to take place, to reduce the amount of misinformation being repeated in public, improve Mr Morris’s understanding of the local government sector and Morecambe Town Council’s specific state of affairs, and hopefully help form a positive future working relationship."

The full Morecambe Town Council letter to Mr Hoare can be found here. 

Mr Morris, in response, said the letter has "unwarranted personal attacks regarding the validity of the information in my recent Westminster Hall Debate".

"The letter is a work of fiction, and they have already missed the boat as I have already sent a full fact checked rebuttal of their letter to the Minister including items from the public record, their own website and historical press releases," he said.

WHAT'S THE LATEST ON THE FUTURE OF FRONTIERLAND?

Owner Lancaster City Council is currently considering its next move following the results of a recent public survey into how the land should be developed. A decision is expected soon.

Read more: Public survey shows '50-50 split' on idea of housing or hotel on Frontierland site - Beyond Radio