Conservatives call for no council tax increase

Date published: 14 December 2007

Following the recent news that Rochdale is to receive a significant increase in central government funding, Conservative Leader Ashley Dearnley has called on the Liberal Democrat run council to keep council tax at it's current level instead of increasing it by 3.8%, as recommended at a meeting of Rochdale Borough Council's Cabinet as part of a budget report setting out the main spending plans for the year ahead.

Councillor Dearnley said: "We are asking the new Portfolio Holder for Finance, Greg Couzens, for a nil council tax rise due to the Government’s unexpected £3 million financial settlement with Rochdale Council."

A significant proportion of funding for local services is provided by a central government grant to councils. There is a complex formula for determining the amount allocated to each council, however, it is understood that the increase of 5.9% for Rochdale, giving a grant of around £102 million in the financial year 2008/09, is due in part to an increase in the figures for poverty and deprivation in the Borough.

This in turn is thought to be correlated with the low number of business start ups in the Borough – Rochdale has the lowest number of business start ups in the whole of Greater Manchester.