22Nov 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Council tax hikes show Conservative hypocrisy at its worst

Council tax hikes show Conservative hypocrisy at its worst

Borough news, fairer council
Jeremy Hunt has today paved the way for massive increases in Council Tax over the next five years, raising the ceiling on increases to five per cent. Local Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani said: “Local authorities are facing crippling increases in social care costs, especially in Oldham. It is absolutely crucial that we pay for social care to keep vulnerable adults and children safe, and this is the reason why bills go up year on year. “Instead of funding social care properly, Jeremy Hunt has again piled the cost of this on to the local authorities who can least afford it. “In four months’ time, when Oldham’s annual budget comes around, local Conservatives will – as they do every year – complain about the increase which their Conservative Government has…
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28Mar 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Sunak Swindle: 1.3 million households set to miss out on council tax rebate

Sunak Swindle: 1.3 million households set to miss out on council tax rebate

Parliamentary news
1.3 million eligible households forecast to miss out on £150 rebate to help with energy billsFinancial watchdog says ministers to rake in £195m from lack of take-up of schemeLib Dem Leader Ed Davey demands any household that missed out should get £150 cheque in the post Around 1.3 million eligible families are set to miss out on the government’s £150 council tax rebate to help with soaring energy bills, it has emerged. The damning figures are buried in the small print of a report by the government’s financial watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), accompanying this week’s Spring Statement. It predicts that the Treasury is set to rake in £195 million from lack of take-up of the government’s flagship scheme. The OBR estimates that two-thirds of council tax payers…
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04Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Oldham Council Tax bills still 2nd highest in region, despite Labour boast

Oldham Council Tax bills still 2nd highest in region, despite Labour boast

Borough news
Oldham’s Labour Cabinet may claim that the proposed 2.99% rise is the lowest in Greater Manchester, but residents still face the second highest Council Tax bills in the city region. Of the ten local authorities, the Oldham Liberal Democrats have identified that only Labour-run Stockport presented a higher Council Tax bill to residents in 2020. Oldham’s bill for a Band D property was £1,678 compared to Stockport’s £1,691. Councillor Howard Sykes MBE said: “In these difficult economic times, when we are all counting the pennies, Oldham Council Tax payers will, I am sure, be glad that bills will go up by 2.99% this year rather than the 5% that is permitted without a referendum, but this is small comfort when bills are already so high to begin with. “That is…
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04Dec 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Spending review forces inflation busting rises on Council Tax payers to fund essential social care

Borough news, Parliamentary news
The Oldham Liberal Democrats have described the Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s recent Spending Review as “a failure to provide” money needed to build back better public services and a greener Britain after the Covid-19 pandemic.  Responding to the disappointing review, Liberal Democrat Group Leader, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, said:  “The Chancellor squandered this opportunity to properly support local authorities in these most-troubling times with more finance, and to invest in the health and social care sector and in combatting climate change to help make Britain better after Covid-19. “The Government has failed yet again to address the long-term challenge of sustainable funding for adult social care. The financial responsibility for social care has once again been shifted onto local taxpayers and councils have been given ‘permission’ to raise council tax well…
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30Jan 2019 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Liberal Democrats find more cash for highways and environment

Borough news
– Money would also build a new health centre for Shaw and Crompton by cutting civic centre waste In their budget proposals for the coming financial year (2019/20), the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council have found more than £2 million more to invest in front-line services over the next three years largely by identifying more ways to save money at the Civic Centre.  This money would be used to pay for a further £5 million investment in the Borough’s highways, including a £1 million fund dedicated to restoring pedestrian footways; create a new Environmental Task Force to respond quickly and effectively to instances of fly-tipping, dog-fouling and littering; and pay to build a new health centre for patients in Shaw and Crompton.  The Liberal Democrats also want to reverse…
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05Oct 2018 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Oldham Liberal Democrats call for end to bailiff action against poorest council tax debtors

Borough news, Campaigns
The Deputy Leader of the Oldham Liberal Democrat Group, and Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Chris Gloster, has written to the Council Deputy Leader, Councillor Abdul Jabbar, asking the Council to sign up to best practice standards in debt collection identified by the Citizens’ Advice Bureaux and Money Advice Trust. These include ending the use of bailiffs and enforcement agents to collect debts from the poorest Council Tax payers. Councillor Gloster explained: “On September 6, the National Audit Office published a report highlighting the fact that the debt collection practices in local and central government fall in many instances well behind the standards applied in the commercial lending sector. I want to see Oldham Council become a standard bearer for good practice in this field, especially as many of…
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