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Local Government Finance - 2 April 2003

Mr. David Curry (Skipton and Ripon): But the Government already have a programme to increase the amount of tax raised locally—it is called the council tax. In a year in which they have increased national insurance contributions, settled the public sector pay and pensions increases, insisted on passporting education expenditure through, even when there has been no grant to cover it, failed to recognise the crisis in social services, about which every Member of Parliament in the House has been telling the Minister, and granted tax-raising powers to the Mayor of London, it is not surprising that council taxes have increased by a long way ahead of inflation. It is entirely the Government's responsibility.

Mr. Raynsford: The right hon. Gentleman was a Minister with responsibility for local government, so he will know that the grant increases that this Government have given—a 25 per cent. real-terms increase—compare favourably with the 7 per cent. cut in grant when he was a Minister. This Government support local government and it is Conservative-controlled councils that are raising the council tax.

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David Curry MP | House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA | tel: 020 7219 6202