COUNCIL TAX

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A fund established to pay for the priorities of Derby residents will be "decimated" to ensure city council tax bills rise by only 5% in 2004, it has been claimed. Opposition Labour councillors have blasted a proposal by the ruling Lib Dem-Tory alliance to cut the £960,000 public priority fund to only £250,000 to save cash as it plans its budget for the year ahead. The cash pot, the brainchild of the previous Labour administration, was designed to fund "street scene" improvements, by paying for litterbins for dog mess, street lighting and child play areas. The announcement of the proposed council tax rise came at a presentation to all of the council's five scrutiny commissions, made up of councillors and cabinet members.

The council's proposed budget expenditure for the next financial year is £251.6m, compared to the current budget figure of £244m for 2003-4, and has resulted in the 5% figure being calculated. Last year, the Labour-controlled council announced an increase of 8% on the authority's portion of the council tax. But Labour leader Chris Williamson was furious that, to achieve this lower increase, the alliance has cut the public priority fund his party introduced in 2002. He said, "To have decimated this fund is unacceptable, particularly when it's been done to prop up the inability to manage other, bigger budgets." He cited a social services overspend in 2003-4 of £800,000 as an example of poor financial management.

"Over the years, the people have called upon the council to do something about their living environment, and cutting the public priority fund will severely diminish our ability to respond to these demands," he said. But Tory and deputy council leader Philip Hickson hit backsaying, "The citizens of the city should rejoice that they will only have to pay a five per cent increase, which is less than was introduced under the previous Labour administration." If the proposed 5% rise is approved on March 1, the council will ask for £602.93 from owners of Band A properties - which were valued at up to £40,000 in 1991 - for 2004-5.

This is up from the £574.22 the authority demanded for the current financial year. The total bill for a Band A property for 2003-4 is £677.06. That figure includes £28.33 for Derbyshire fire service and £74.51 for the county's police force. So if the proposed rise is approved, and there was no change to the fire service and police elements of the bill, Band A properties would be charged a total bill of £705.77. In reality, however, these emergency services charges are also likely to rise.

I am astounded at the brass neck of Councillor Philip Hickson. What a statement that we in Derby should rejoice because the Lib Dem/Tory group is only putting up the council tax by double the rate of inflation. The Government has recently given a great deal of publicity to the additional funding for local authorities following the high incidence of complaints following last year's inflation-busting increases. The aim of this money is simply to keep council tax at or near to inflation levels.

Surely Derby has received its fair share. I am sure we would have heard about it if not. I trust that the people who were taken in by the manifesto promises of the Tories will recognise the duplicity of Councillor Hickson's statement. Just in case anyone has forgotten, the promise was "increases at or below inflation". No ifs or buts - a cast-iron promise to the people of this city. This is another promise broken! So the budget takes £710,000 from the public priority fund, thus removing at a stroke the effects of the public consultation that brought it about.

The council has additional money from the Government and yet it still proposes a rise in council tax of twice the rate of inflation. Let us hope that the public of Derby will see through this and take it for what it is: another U-turn by this sorry administration. Perhaps the time for rejoicing in this city will be after the June elections when we will hopefully see the end of Councillor Hickson and his broken promises. Janet Shaw

Sports facilities at 26 parks in Derby could be closed or allowed to go to seed as part of a cost-cutting exercise. Derby City Council's commercial services department has been assessing, as part of its annual budgeting process, whether or not the cost of maintaining the facilities was worthwhile. Facilities under threat include the grass hockey pitch at the King George V Playing Field in Littleover, the rugby pitch at Markeaton Park and the cricket pitch at Oakwood Park.

The council, run by Liberal Democrat/Conservative alliance, is also planning to stop marking out 13 football pitches at the Racecourse, Alvaston Park and Darley Park. The council's suggestion appears to fly in the face of ongoing Government plans to boost sport in the community, partly to tackle child obesity. Recently, former Government health secretary Frank Dobson published a review into children's play facilities, calling for children to be given more outdoor play places.

John Winters, the city council's director of commercial services, said that the decision to close facilities had not yet been made, but any closures would have a "minimal effect" on Derby residents. Other fund-raising suggestions for the department include charging non-city residents more than Derby residents to be cremated at Markeaton Crematorium. The council is in the middle of deciding how to allocate its £251.6m budget, up from last year's £237.2m, which would mean a 5% rise in council tax bills.

Each council department has produced a document outlining what financial pressures it faces and how it intends to counteract them. Ceasing to maintain selected sports facilities would result in a saving of £91,000 and would go toward offsetting a £185,000 increase in costs in the commercial services department. Labour councillor Martin Repton said, "I think that this is something that could've been avoided if the budget had been looked at more carefully. There's going to be a public outcry."

Derby City Council is planning a major shake-up of the level of council tax property owners have to pay on vacant homes. Under current regulations, a house owner is exempt from paying council tax on a vacant property for the first six months, after which they are charged 50% of the total. Payments vary depending on the tax band of individual properties.

But the owner of an empty Band D house currently pays £512.50, compared with £1,025 for an occupied property. But the authority feels the current policy encourages landlords to allow properties to sit empty, and wants them instead to pay 90%. In future, the owner of an empty Band D home will be asked to pay £992.50, based on the current rate.