Green councillors have responded to news that Labour-run Bradford Council was looking to increase council tax by up to 14.99%.
Councillor Neil Whitaker (Craven) who is the Green Party’s finance spokesperson has said,
“I know many people are going to be very angry if they have to pay significantly more Council Tax for even less services. Thousands of households across Bradford District are really struggling and will now be paying the price of the catastrophic mismanagement of our Council’s finances by the Labour administration.
“The reports coming to meetings of councillors in the last few months paint a damning picture. The Labour Administration missed opportunity after opportunity to prevent the financial situation becoming so bad, but they had their heads in the sand. It wasn’t until we were on the edge of the cliff that things have started to change.”
Councillor Matt Edwards (Tong), Leader of the Green Party on Bradford Council:
“The new Labour government promised they were going to fix the financial mess council like Bradford are in but just like the Conservatives they are ignoring the issue. They promised a windfall tax on the excessive profits of the big energy companies to help get local government finances back on track. But since being elected they seem to have quietly shelved this.
“So instead of making the super wealthy and big businesses pay their fair share, or delivering fairer funding for local government, it looks like they are going to make hardworking people across our district pay the price for cleaning up the financial mess this Labour administration has gotten us into. Local government needs to be funded properly if everyone is to get the services we all deserve.”