COUNCIL TAX

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Claims that nearly 15,000 Derby people "disappeared" from the last population census have been given a boost by the publication of a report. Derby City Council has always maintained that census figures compiled in 2001 were wrong, meaning that the city, which is allocated Government funding largely according to its population, lost out on £4m. The census showed that Derby's population had fallen from 236,261 to 221,716.

The council said that its own data indicated that numbers were actually increasing. At the time, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) defended the count, saying that it was the "most accurate census ever". Now, a report by the Statistics Commission, an independent watchdog, has called for a recount of the census in "very hard to count" areas. It is not known if a recount would mean that councils would receive more cash.

City council leader Maurice Burgess is now convinced that the report will help Derby and he will again ask for the figures to be looked at by the Statistics Commission. He said, "It certainly gives us hope. We think that the ONS got it wrong when they were calculating their figures after the last census. We'll be pressing them to look again." Councillor Chris Williamson, the previous leader of the city council, started the lobby to get the ONS to admit that it was wrong. He said, "I think it's a good omen."

Census figures for Derby were later increased after a review by the Office for National Statistics. An additional 7,800 people have been added to the figures after officials complained the city population had been underestimated. Having now admitted a mistake was made, an extra £2m a year could be added to the council's purse. Perhaps city taxpayers could be due a rebate?

Council tax bills were predicted to soar above the rate of inflation despite a 6.5% increase in local authority grants and threats that ministers would cap excessive increases. Early predictions suggested average bills could rise by 10%, local government sources said. Nick Raynsford, the minister for Local Government, insisted that most demands for extra cash had been met, and warned that "large council tax increases are simply not acceptable". In a clear threat to council leaders aimed at heading off a repeat of this year's record 12.9% average council tax rise, he said the public "would not wear" increases approaching 10%. He insisted that authorities could follow the example of the 100 councils that limited rises to 5% last year.

Mr Raynsford told MPs, "We expect authorities to come up with a low or no increase. We are clear that the current trend in council tax rises is not sustainable. Every local authority, including fire and police authorities, must be in no doubt that we are prepared to use our capping powers to protect council tax payers." But the Local Government Association (LGA) said many authorities would have no alternative but to increase council tax. The majority of district councils had funding cut in real terms, with some getting only 2.2% more. The LGA said 13 county and unitary councils would be forced to spend all their grant increase on schools, while 18 more had been left with little or no room for manoeuvre once increases had been "passported" to education.

Police authorities raised the prospect of an increase of up to 15% in their demands on council tax payers. They insisted they needed a 6% increase in grant to maintain services, warning that their 3.3% settlement would be swallowed by inflation, pay increases and pension costs. Sir Jeremy Beecham, chairman of the LGA, warned that "many councils have a serious shortfall in budgets and council tax for the coming year". He said, "Strong words and capping threats from government will simply cause weary bewilderment. If your grant is less than inflation or you are forced to pass any increase you have to schools, where else are you expected to go?"

David Curry, the shadow Secretary of State for Local and Devolved Government, said council taxes would soar and warned that services would be damaged. He said, "I think it's going to be the humble services which suffer, pavements, streetlights, potholes, recreation and parks. Those are the services which are often the closest to the citizen. This is the settlement which could mark the year that the streets could really begin to crumble. The citizen has been stuffed. Bad news for taxpayers, bad news for pensioners, bad news for people on low income, bad news for communities, bad news for people."

Council tax payers look set to foot the bill again for a shortfall in police funding after the Government awarded the Derbyshire force just £3.3m more than last year. Residents will now have to find the extra £36.5m the Derbyshire force says it will need to maintain current services and to provide extra officers during 2004-05 - £1.5m more than they are having to pay this year. The Government is to give the force £101.2m, compared with £97.9m for the year 2003-04, an increase of 3.37%. Derbyshire Police Authority, the governing body for the county's police, says that the force will need a total of £137.7m to maintain current services and a further £3.4m to provide additional officers.

Police authority chairman Jo Thornton condemned the Government's increase saying, "The public is saying they want more beat officers and that is what we want to provide, but that costs money. If the Government won't provide funding, we would need increase council tax to get extra officers on the beat." Currently a Derby City Council Band D property pays £903.82 for council services and £111.77 for the police, bringing the total bill to £1,015.59. The award is bad news for Chief Constable David Coleman, who has pledged to put more than 120 extra bobbies on the street in the near future, with every beat in the county adequately manned.

Mr Coleman said that, without a council tax rise, it will once again be difficult to maintain current services against a rising level of demand. This year, the police precept rose by 21.5 %, from about £88 per band D household, when Derbyshire police got a 3.7% increase for 2003/04 from Government coffers. It paid for an additional 54 beat officers, bringing the total in Derbyshire to 178, still way short of the 300-plus officers needed to fulfil Mr Coleman's promise. A Home Office spokesman said, "Each police authority receives a standard increase each year. The settlement comes on top of a 30% increase on funding since 2000."

The amount of money being given to district councils by the Government for the next financial year has been revealed. Following Gordon Brown's pre-Budget speech, the Government announced that it would be increasing grants. Derby City Council had been expecting £189.753m in 2004-5 but has now been provisionally granted £190.860m. Derbyshire County Council had been expecting £440.968m but is now set to get £445.907m.

George Frost, who has heart problems, was locked up for 23 days and spent his 75th birthday behind bars for failing to pay his council tax arrears. He was ordered to pay off a £991 debt, for the years 2001-2003, in £120 instalments. The widower failed to make the first payment and was jailed by magistrates in his home town of Dover. The Campaign for the Reform of Council Tax said, "This is an outrageous case. We're seeing more and more cases like this. It has to stop." Dover Council said, "We work with individuals at every step before a case is presented to court. Courts are a last resort." (Source: Daily Mirror, May/06)