Bye Bye Burnham

[Mito Man]

H&F Council is kinda well known for having the lowest rates in London and maybe in the country because it's the most efficient council and it's open to granting planning permission. So it's sort of the ideal council from a management perspective but it's being punished for it. And this is a council with much higher rates than average of social housing. However as usual people are getting mad about the rich area paying less tax rather than getting mad about their own council wasting more which I guess is what the government wants.

[Jobbo]

H&F Council is kinda well known for having the lowest rates in London

Famously Wandsworth and Westminster were always lowest: https://propertydata.co.uk/council-tax

Hammersmith and Fulham is in the 'low' category but is 50% higher, so definitely not well known for being the lowest. Wandsworth are very well known for striving to be the lowest.

[Rich B]

I remember when i lived in Windsor the council tax was far less than when i was in Camberley. I always presumed this was down to all the other revenue streams available to the council in a more affluent and popular tourist location - parking charges, business rates, licensing, more attractive land for development, etc…

i presume all these would apply to west London?

[Jobbo]

I remember when i lived in Windsor the council tax was far less than when i was in Camberley. I always presumed this was down to all the other revenue streams available to the council in a more affluent and popular tourist location - parking charges, business rates, licensing, more attractive land for development, etc…

i presume all these would apply to west London?

Each London borough is different - have a look at the link I posted. Richmond for instance is quite high.

[Rich B]

A quick search on one of the income streams between H&F (one of the lowest council tax areas) and east sussex (one of the highest).

H&F revenue £223 million - £58.9 million from PCNs
ES revenue £693.2 million - £1.7 million from PCNs

So 25% of H&F revenue comes from parking/fines whereas 0.0025% of ES revenue comes from the same stream.

H&F aren’t some super savvy money saving expert, they’ve just inherited a more fertile plot of land to farm.

[jamcg]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6d93gq1xdgno

“ The government said getting rid of the tariffs could save households up to £21 per year”

I’m sure I’ll notice £1.75 a month cheaper shopping. Cheers for that

[John]

Absolutely clueless

It's like a bad episode of The Apprentice

[Mito Man]

The annual £20 saving will come in helpful to pay for the council tax increase.

[Marv]

The annual £20 saving will come in helpful to pay for the council tax increase.

And electric & water price hikes coming up next year too.

Tokenism again...

[Beany]

I mean, they're getting positive (if tiny) things in the press, so that's a start over Starmer. Although I'm not sure if have bothered with that one...

[IanF]

The Rest is Politics and Political Currency podcasts are great for discussions about current political issues… I thought Andy Burnham came across well, although his non-political style gave away that the North Sea oil was getting approved before it was confirmed.

I think a large gesture on what is consistently polled as the unfairest tax, ie inheritance tax, would grab the headlines and give them time to actually formulate a growth plan without the daily questioning and do so without a significant reduction in tax revenue… their current proposals to remove cliff edge policies suggests this could happen.

With the cost of living increases and the current unrest in Europe, I think it’s right that closer European collaboration does not go as far as rejoining the EU, but discussions next month should certainly look at a tie up, or customs union, to reduce the threat that Made in Europe etc would cause…

I think Burnham is following a pragmatic path and so is not frozen in place with constant u-turns à la Starmer..