- Media & Campaigns
- Press releases
- 2008
- February 2008
- Councils support "localising potential" of new welfare plan
- Taxpayers' Alliance to condemn council staff to a meagre retirement
- Average council tax set to be real terms freeze in 2008
- Drug strategy must not create two tier treatment system
- ‘Casino mirage’ has cost councils dear
- Seaside resorts may have to cut services to pay for free bus travel
- Standard school year cuts cost and confusion
- Response to housing strategy
- Councils key to unlocking creative economy - LGA
- Power to reward families who recycle should be introduced
- Response to Home Office Green Paper on citizenship
- More supermarket competition not necessarily good for local people
- New figures show households correctly recycling vast majority of items
- New LGA website shows how much cash is locally raised and spent
- Councils weigh in over innaccurate hospital scales
- 'Manilow method' could be a substitute for Mosquito to deter gangs
- This time it's personal - LGA launches fair care campaign
- Independent results show most councils performing better than ever
- Police chiefs should be accountable to local people through their council
- Getting council tenants back into work is 'a debate that needs to be had'
- Civil partnerships fall by 55%
- Throw-away society blamed for sharp rise in stray dogs
- Councils geared up for snow
New LGA website shows how much cash is locally raised and spent
LGA press release - 13 February 2008
A new website has been launched today by the Local Government Association which reveals on average for every one pound in tax that people in England have a vote over where it goes, six pounds is paid in national taxes.
The website – www.mymoneywenttowhitehall.com - provides a breakdown for every local council area of how much is spent per person on average on council tax compared to how much is spent on income tax. People can then sign up to an online petition which demands more say on the taxes paid.
The figures used just include income tax, but exclude VAT, fuel duty and other national taxes. In total, council tax is a mere twentieth of the national tax take.
Chairman of the Local Government Association, Sir Simon Milton, said:
“All political parties are talking about giving more power to local people but a vital element of this debate must be about the level of control people have over the money they pay to fund these services.
“New research shows that for every pound a taxpayer pays in council tax, where they have a local vote on what they pay and how its spent, they send six pounds in income tax to Whitehall. Six times more money – but how many times less democratic accountability to the taxpayer?
“Every year, the amount of council tax people pay is the subject of powerful, real debate between citizens and their elected representatives. And yet income tax is the subject of a great deal less controversy.
“Is six to one really the right balance? We want people to be more conscious of just how little of the money spent on local services is accountable to them.
“Compared that 1 in 20 ratio with 1 to 2 for Sweden and Germany. Even France, which we traditionally think of as a highly centralised state has double the amount of taxation under local control that we do.
“As a sign of where power really lies in Britain, this is an important measure, and one which needs to shift onto a much more equal footing if people are to be truly put first.”
ENDS
Author: LGA Press Office
Contact: Richard Stokoe 020 7664 3225