Are Local Councils good value for the council tax they charge?

Answer 1

No, they don,t get paid on results , they have ridiculously inflated pensions ,they are paid grotesquely high salaries , most of them have no Idea of "Commercial Reality" .they consider the Country is generally their "Domain" and continually introduce Laws and Rules which are Bloody Ridiculous and serve to convice them of their "Importance" when in reality they are mostly a bunch of stupid prats , Hiding from the "Not available - on Leave" bullshit excuses , they couldn,t run a wheelbarrow down a steep hill - Run a Business ? not in a milliion years and Beauracracy grows by the day ,stifling normal Practical Thinking and Policies which are economical and genuinely effective to the benefit of Ratepayers and are massively overstaffed with Jobsworths and Empire builders

Answer 2

Of course council tax only represents a small amount of local council income. The remainder is provided by central government.
Granted we don't use all the services that are provided by the council all the time but most of us will have gone to a state school; had our rubbish collected; perhaps had a relative or friend who has had to have home helps or technical aids provided by social services; we may live in council accommodation; we certainly use the pavements and roads and street lighting; perhaps you've gone for a walk in your local park, used the swimming or other leisure facilities or used your local library or family record archive. I'm sure many of you will say your services are appalling. they are also accountable. Have you spoken to your local councillor? Have you thought about who would be a better alternative to vote for?

Of course, the value provided by each council will differ according to where you live and what the pressures on each individual council might be. Rural areas may, in some respects, be better off than inner cities; but pressures are nationwide.

I'm not actually trying to be an apologist for local councils, but I do know that many of the people who work for them work very hard and are trying to make life better for those they deal with. No one in local government has a job for life: councils are changing all the time, outsourcing some of their services, having to make staff redundant (though they do try to avoid this); simply changing the way in which services are delivered. Also the pensions are not that great and no, contrary to popular belief, 25% of council tax does NOT go to the Local Government Pension scheme: it is far less. The scheme discriminates against part-time owrkers and women who are the majority of workers.

Just saying NO is a kneejerk reaction. Councils are far from perfect but what is the alternative? Have all these services delivered from central government? Have no services at all? I'm sure many people here will believe that you should pay for everything directly and not pay taxes. If so, what is their proposal for providing for those on low pay who cannot afford services? Or those who are disabled or out of work (because the work has gone abroad or been wiped out ie mining industry); made redundant etc etc.

Answer 3

Given that local councils receive less than 25% of their spending through council tax, then the answer must be yes.

Is the council tax an equitable tax? No, because it is regressive (bearing no relation to income or ability to pay) and (b) mandatory, because it is effectively set by central government

If local spending were 100% covered by a local tax (with comensurate reduction in income tax), then value for money would start to make sense as local elections would have much more democratic bite

Answer 4

No. Seriously all we get for are Council Tax is the rubbish collected every week.

There are NO street lights, the road hasn't been resurfaced in 20 years (and is in desperate need of attention, the numerous pot holes are a foot deep) and I've got no idea what a policeman looks like (well I do, but I have NEVER seen any in the area where I live).

Answer 5

''purely householders will pay this''......the place on earth is the fairness in this? every physique advantages from what's paid for out of council tax So why objective purely householders? won't have the capacity to think of the council or landlords being happy paying council tax for their tenants the two Pensioners are not getting a hundred% rebate the two, they pay in the event that they have the earnings from state pension and works pension, and the different earnings they have.

Answer 6

You cannot be serious, local councils aren't good for anything but taking council tax, not answering phones, and passing the buck!!!!

Answer 7

Generally no. No tax represents good value because we don't get to choose whether we pay it or not nor do we generally get a say on how it is spent. On top of that, most of the money is spent on services which are used by only a few people.

Answer 8

Certainly not. Especially when you consider 25% of it is going toward their pension funds. Local council workers basically have jobs for life yet we, whether employed or unemployed, are told we must provide for our old age. Many, many people do not earn enough to think about pensions yet are being asked to subsidise others. Another example of this is the postal workers. We look forward to poverty while they look forward to early retirement.

Answer 9

I work for a Council and even I say NO!

Answer 10

No.local councils all over the world is the same.They donot have enough financial freedom.They tax and spend .They they give primary training in democracy,that is all.It may be Kindergarten for politics.