Like it or not – Large Dudley council tax rise on way despite survey result

Dudley Council bosses announced the launch of a consultation in October, insisting they were ready to listen to taxpayers.

But a report has revealed 78 per cent of nearly 1,400 respondents favoured either a three or four per cent overall tax rise – lower than what was eventually proposed.

Leaders floated a 2.99 per cent rise when the council’s draft budget was announced in October – lower than other authorities in the region – but said they would ask residents whether they were prepared to pay more.

The plan then was for a 1.99 per cent rise to fund council services and a further one per cent to support adult social care.

• Express & Star comment: Consultations that ignore results are pointless and divisive

Residents were then asked if they would be happy to pay more to help fund social care – but in the end a 2.99 per cent increase was proposed for frontline services and a further 1.5 per cent for social care.

Council bosses said the rules from the Government on the maximum amount they were allowed to charge changed during the consultation.

Results showed 55 per cent of people favoured the 2.99 per cent total rise – what was originally proposed by the Conservative-controlled authority.

Another 23.2 per cent said they would be willing to pay 3.99 per cent more, while 21.7 per cent said they would pay 4.99 per cent extra.

Announcing the planned 4.5 per cent rise earlier this month, finance boss Councillor Steve Clark said it ‘is the right thing to do for our residents’.

Opposition Labour group leader, Councillor Pete Lowe, insisted bosses should have been clear about the rule changes during the consultation

He said: “We need a council that listens and is open about decisions that need to be made rather than seeking their views when actually their views will not be taken into account because of the reality of the situation we find ourselves in in Dudley.”

Councillor Clark said: “When the consultation was launched, the maximum increase allowed by the government for basic council tax was 1.99 per cent. But during the consultation this was increased nationally to 2.99 per cent to fall in line with inflation.

“The results of the consultation, which was based around an additional increase for adult social care, did not produce a clear, dominant stand-out result. Around 55 per cent indicated a preference for an extra 1 per cent on top of the basic rate, with the remainder going for either two per cent or three per cent.

“This gave a preferred average increase of just under 1.7 per cent.

“The proposed adult social care increase of 1.5 per cent has taken into account the results of the consultation and ensures the council has additional funds in place to care for the most vulnerable people in our community. The additional inflationary increase of the basic rate at 2.99 per cent gives a total of 4.49 per cent.

“It’s important to note that even with the proposed increase, Dudley will still have the lowest council tax in the whole of the West Midlands and one of the lowest across the country.”