Cornwall's £12 million council tax arrears

A government minister has pointed out that Cornwall Council has missed out on £12 million through non-collected council tax. And he's right to say that every pound not collected is a pound that cannot be spent on local services.

That is why Cornwall Council does so much to make sure that we collect as much of the council tax and business rates that are owed to us as possible.

Anyone with a passing interest in Cornwall politics will know that I have been in that position myself. I know that Cornwall Council does not give up on getting the money it is owed.

Cornwall has one of the best collection rates in the region - and it has been getting better year on year. We collect more than 97.5% of the council tax owed to us and the overall debt is proportionately less than half the average in the region. But Brandon Lewis is right that the uncollected amount adds up to around £12 million over the past few years.

But while the council doesn't give up on money owed lightly, there are some cases where it is impossible to collect. And there are more such cases out there as changes to the welfare system bite. These include the cut in the maximum level of council tax support from 100% to 75%. So now everybody has to pay at least something. And whilst there is additional support available in exceptional cases, this does not cover the entire amount owed.

That decision was taken by the last administration at Cornwall Council and I opposed the change. But we may not change it mid-year and I'm now tasked with enforcing it. What the council will be doing is helping people to put together a payment plan that they can afford but which ensures that the council gets the money we are owed.

So if you owe council tax, please don't think that the authority will give up on the debt. We can't afford to do so. What we can do is try to be as reasonable as possible in helping you pay, but we need to speak to you in order to do so.

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Cornwall council's tax bill problem

Cornwall Council has admitted that many of the council tax bills they have sent out contain the wrong barcode on them. As a result, residents are finding it impossible to pay at their local post office.

Whilst the majority of residents pay their bills by direct debit and are not affected by this problem, it is still causing a concern for those who do pay in person and for the businesses where they pay. For post offices, being able to offer the council tax payment service is a way of drawing customers into the shop. In short, it helps them stay afloat. If bill payers start losing confidence in the system then the post offices will suffer.

The fault appears to lie with a contractor who printed and sent out the bills. As such, the cost of putting it right (which could be as much as £50,000) hopefully won't come back to local taxpayers. New bills are being sent out to the 81,000 households and businesses affected and will be with residents by the April 1st deadline for first payments to be made.

But it appears that many people affected have been kept in the dark about the problems and what is being done to put them right. Although a statement was put on the council's website, it seems post offices have not been kept up to date and so they are unable to advise their customers to wait until the new (corrected) bill arrives on their doormat.

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It could be worse...

However much we might moan about the various failings of the Conservative-Independent cabinet on Cornwall Council, things could be worse. We could be in Torridge or Mid-Devon where the Conservative councils have sent out thousands of bills demanding a council tax increase of up to 17%. The bills are, of course, wrong and are having to be replaced.

Mid Devon has had enough bad publicity in the last week with their decision to abolish the rules of grammar and delete apostrophes from their road signs.

But now the council has sent out thousands of incorrect council tax bills and will have to go through the process again, leading to confusion and costing around £12,000.

According to the Western Morning News:

Conservative cabinet member for finance Neal Davey said the error was made by an officer and was "regrettable".

In Torridge, only 803 bills out of 30,553 sent out were right - a strike rate of just 2.6%. There too, the bills will have to be replaced at a cost of thousands of pounds.

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Worried about council tax? Get your claim in for help as soon as possible

There will be many thousands of people in Cornwall who are worried about how they are going to be able to afford their council tax. Even though the Cornwall Council element of the bill has been frozen this year, it is still a lot of money to find.

Particularly hard hit are those who had previously been in receipt of council tax benefit. Until now, this means tested benefit covered up to 100% of the amount owed. Under the new rules imposed by the Conservatives and Independents, all working age households will have to pay at least 25% of their bill. That's a tax rise averaging £265 for 26,000 Cornish families.

A support scheme has been put in place to help those who feel they cannot afford this amount. Unfortunately, this scheme will only cover a maximum of half the debt. For some, this may well be enough. But for the least well off, I think this decision is very wrong. For the avoidance of doubt, the final decision to limit the support scheme was taken by Council Leader Jim Currie and not presented to full council.

If you do think you need help to cover your council tax bill, you should contact the council as soon as possible using the 'Exceptional Relief' application form on this page or you should call 0300 1234 121.

Claims will not be processed before April 1st, but all those received by that date will be processed before the reminder letters are sent out for unpaid April bills - so apply early to avoid running up any debts.

Although I still believe this is a bad scheme and the council should have retained the previous version to avoid imposing unpayable debts on the poorest, I am glad that they will be dealing with claims for help swiftly.

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New council tax support scheme will fail Cornwall's poorest

Back in January, Cornwall Council decided to impose a huge tax increase on 26,000 of the poorest working age families in Cornwall. As a way of mitigating the worst effects, the Conservatives announced that there would be an exceptional relief fund to help those who could not afford to pay. But nobody could have anticipated that the Tories would put a cap on the amount that any individual could claim.

 

When this poor tax was first imposed, the Leader of the Conservatives said she knew nothing about those affected. It's clear that none of her colleagues have bothered to find out since.

 

Liberal Democrats argued for the maintenance of the previous system because we know that there are many people in Cornwall who simply cannot afford to pay. But even having imposed the huge tax rise, there was still action that the Conservatives could have taken to protect the poorest of the poor. But they have failed to do that. Instead, they have guaranteed that thousands of families will hear the bailiff's knock on the door.

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Cornish Liberal Democrats announce zero rise budget alternative

• Another year of council tax freeze
• Cuts to car park charges
• Investment in road repairs and youth services
• More money for beach cleaning and litter picking

Cornish Liberal Democrats are today announcing a budget alternative which would see council tax frozen for a third straight year. 

“Our budget alternative stands in stark contrast to the official budget proposal of the Conservative-led council,” said Cllr Jeremy Rowe, Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Cornwall Council.  

“Where they promise a council tax rise, we will freeze it. Where they propose service cuts, we have found the money to reverse many of the harshest. Where they have slashed money for road repairs, we will invest millions and we will cut car parking charges across Cornwall. 

“The Conservatives on Cornwall Council have a history of wasting money. They spent millions on the failed bid to privatise a huge range of services without public or Council support. Their own budget documents show how their group leader lost £300,000 of income in the coming year by failing to implement a fairer scheme for discretionary rate relief. And let’s not forget the £50,000 given to Plymouth in their attempt to host the World Cup and the money wasted by ferrying tea and coffee between offices by taxi. 

“Last year, council tax was only frozen because the Liberal Democrats campaigned for it. Independents, MK and Labour voted for a rise and the Conservatives dithered. This year, the Conservative cabinet members have again said openly they are looking to the Liberal Democrats to take the lead and propose a freeze. We are happy to do so. 

“This year’s council tax freeze will save between £25 and £70 for every household in Cornwall. At a time of continuing economic hardship, Cornwall Council should be doing our bit to help as many people as possible.” 

As well as a council tax freeze, Liberal Democrats are proposing to cut car park charges across Cornwall. Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, Cllr Alex Folkes, said: 

“We believe that high car park charges deter motorists and damage our town centre shops and businesses. The proof is in the £3m bail out that had to be given to the car park budget last year and the £1.8m this year. 

“In Launceston we have proved that cutting car park charges can actually result in higher income for the council. Happier motorists, happier businesses and a happier council. We will do this for towns and villages across Cornwall by cutting parking charges. We are confident that this will succeed and we are dedicating £1.2m per year for the next two years to underwrite the project.” 

Liberal Democrats have also recognised the damage that has been done to our road network through cuts to the repairs budget. The budget will invest more than £1.2m per year for the next two years in filling potholes and repairing carriageways. 

Lib Dem Finance spokesman Ann Kerridge said: “The Conservatives stripped the road repair and safety budget by millions in order to plug the holes in their parking budget. Last week they announced that their own budget proposal would put around £65,000 more into the pot. Whilst we believe this is welcome, it is dwarfed by the £2.490m we will be investing. 

“When we talk to residents across Cornwall, one of the areas they tell us worries them most is yobbishness and anti-social behaviour. Whilst the Conservative Police Commissioner is increasing his demands on council tax whilst slashing officer numbers, we want to do more to tackle these problems. We will invest an extra £200,000 into the work being done by Cornwall’s excellent youth service to tackle anti-social behaviour.” 

Liberal Democrats are also proposing to reverse some of the damage done by one of the worst failings of the Conservative administration. 

Deputy Leader Alex Folkes said: “In April 2012, a new waste collection and street cleaning service started. The introduction was so mis-handled by both the Conservative-led council and the contractor that tens of thousands of bins were not emptied and many streets were not cleaned. The impact on our tourism industry could have been catastrophic. We will invest in a ‘spring clean for Cornwall’ ahead of the coming tourist season by using the contractual penalties the council will receive from the contractor to invest in additional beach cleaning and litter picking. 

“Sadly, the one Tory decision that we cannot reverse is their imposition of a poor tax on 26,000 of the least well off working age families in Cornwall. Their vote in January to impose an average £265 council tax rise on these families is shameful. Regrettably, the Government has decreed that the scheme decided then cannot be altered. 

“In order to pay for the council tax freeze and other proposals, we will press ahead with our plans to cut spending on consultants and agency staff. In addition, we will cut the amount that Cornwall Council is spending on spin doctors and communications. The Conservatives actually wanted to increase this budget in the coming year. We will reverse that rise and ask that department to work with 6.25% less than the current year. 

“We will also be challenging Cornwall Council to do better collecting council tax. The target set by the Conservatives is 97.5%. Already our officers are beating that rate and we challenged them to become one of the best authorities in the country. We have set a challenge for the coming year of 97.7%” 

Lib Dem Group Leader Jeremy Rowe added: “At this difficult time, no party is able to promise to protect every aspect of council spending. Sadly, there are some tough choices to be made. We will not shy away from those and there are some areas where we are proposing cuts which we would prefer not to have to make. But when the choice is between council propaganda or repairing our roads and helping hard pressed families across Cornwall, the Liberal Democrats know which side we are on. 

“At their budget meeting last week, Conservative cabinet members queued up to ask the Liberal Democrats to take the lead to do what is right for the people of Cornwall. This budget does so and we would welcome the support of Conservatives and the people of Cornwall.”

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Council tax - up or freeze? Make your views known

I've recently written to residents in the area I represent asking for their views on the level of council tax in Cornwall next year.

As I have written before, I would like to see council tax kept as low as possible without making additional cuts to valuable front line services.

I'd like to know the views of the wider readership of this blog too. Should council tax rise by the 1.97% desired by the Conservative Leadership of the council? Or should we strive for a freeze?

Make your views known here.

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Cornwall's top Tories seek Liberal Democrat leadership

At yesterday's cabinet meeting, Conservative cabinet members were queuing up to ask for Liberal Democrat leadership on council tax and the budget.

Apparently, it is all because I was quoted on Radio Cornwall yesterday morning setting out the Liberal Democrat position:

"We want to see the lowest possible level of council tax whilst protecting services. If we can find a way of freezing council tax for a third straight year whilst protecting the services that people value, then we will do so. If we can't freeze council tax then we will seek the minimum increase necessary."

The Conservative Leadership's budget is asking for a 1.97% rise in council tax - described as 'referendum dodging' by one of the own local government ministers in London. All four Independent councillors on the cabinet spoke in support of that rise yesterday, as did all but one of the Conservative Cabinet members.

The narrative from Conservative councillors Armand Toms, Carolyn Rule and Lance Kennedy was that they were happy to back a 1.97% rise, but would look to see if the Liberal Democrats could come up with an alternative budget proposal that would allow for a freeze. They are also hoping that their fellow Conservative Fiona Ferguson might be able to provide a freeze option.

It seems that even the Conservatives are looking for Lib Dem leadership in Cornwall.

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Conservatives cost you more - Police Special

Policing costs in Devon and Cornwall will be going up in the coming year thanks to Conservative Police Commissioner Tony Hogg and the rubber stamp of the Tory dominated Police and Crime Panel.

At today's meeting, the panel discussed Commissioner Hogg's desire for a referendum-cheating 2% rise in his council tax precept. Cornish Lib Dem councillor Adam Paynter led the charge against the rise.

Of course, all budgets are under pressure and the police force has seen officer numbers cut as the pressures tighten. But the bit of Commissioner Hogg's budget that seems more bloated than it need be are his own office costs. The abolition of the old police authority promised that these costs would come down. Sure the commissioner is paid a big salary, but the panel members operate for travel costs only rather than the special allowance received by the old authority members.

But not in Commissioner Hogg's world. He is budgeting for his office and staff costs to match those of the old authority - and perhaps rise even higher. Already he has a spin doctor on £60,000 and has hired the wife of an old navy chum as his 'senior adviser'. As a former chief finance officer for Devon, she is well qualified in many respects, but it seems strange that there was no open recruitment process.

Tory and Labour members all voted for the 2% rise, but Adam Paynter did not.

Incidentally, Cornwall's voice was much muted at the meeting. Although I was absent as part of the interview panel for Cornwall's interim Chief Executive, I had arranged for Adam to attend in my place as rules allow. The other Lib Dem from Cornwall, Paula Dolphin, was also there. So too was Bill Maddern - one of the two Conservatives. Lance Kennedy was nowhere to be seen and had not sent a sub. Neither had Indie John Wood who was also tied up in the interviews in Truro all day but hadn't nominated a replacement.

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Gypsy? Traveller? Cornish? It's the same thing according to Cornwall Council

You would think that Cornwall Council would understand the proud nature of Cornish identity. You'd think they would also understand the, shall we say, sensitivities that Cornish people sometimes feel about their identity.

Just this week a councillor stormed out of prayers at a council meeting because the priest leading them referred too often to the 'county' of Cornwall.

Whatever your view (and I am proud to be in the Cornish camp), you'd think that the council would have more nous than to design a form with an 'ethnic origin' box that lists: "Gypsy/Traveller/Cornish". But Cornwall Council has done so in the shape of a form to apply for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. (see photos)

Some people will suggest it is offensive. And they are right. Not because being likened to a gypsy or traveller is an insult. It isn't. But because the two backgrounds are so entirely different. What Cornwall Council has done in designing this form is to create a 'bucket' category for anyone who doesn't appear to fit into 'normal' definitions. It's offensive to Cornish people and offensive to gypsies and travellers.

The whole point of these ethnic origin sections (if they have a point at all) is to find out whether the balance of people filling in the form is markedly different from the balance of the community as a whole. And if it is different, the council should be trying to find out why and doing something about it. The categorisation on the Cornwall Council form achieves none of this.

Tonight I've written to the Chief Executive of the Council. I've asked him:

- who designed this form and who signed it off;
- will he withdraw the use of this form immediately;
- will he issue an apology;
- will he institute an inquiry to find out how and why the design of the form came to be like this.


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Tories force through Cornwall Poor Tax

From April this year, if you are poor and of working age in Cornwall, you will be forced to pay at least a quarter of your council tax bill for the first time. That is the decision made today by the full council.

This will impose a poor tax averaging about £265 a year on the 26,000 poorest families of working age. At a time when the Conservative group leader is busy campaigning for a council tax freeze without explaining what services will have to be cut, her attitude seems to be that the poorest should still have to face a massive tax hike.

Today's debate looked at two options. The Conservative proposal was to impose the poor tax. The amendment that I put forward on behalf of the Liberal Democrats looked to retain the current system and to pay for this by cutting the spending on consultants and agency staff.

Cornwall Council currently spends more than £1 million a month on consultants and agency staff. Some of this is absolutely essential - it is spending on social workers and call centre workers and the council could not function without them. But that total (according to the figures given to me by the council) is around £5 million out of the total of £13 million. So the council would still be able to save the money without threatening lifeline or essential services.

There was a lot of bluster from the Conservatives claiming that every penny that they spend on consultants and agency staff is essential. Yet just two years ago they were spending £4 million per year less and their leaders were claiming it could be cut back further still. If we could spend so much less then, why can't we do so now and protect the most vulnerable from this tax hike in the process.

I am clear that this decision today will force thousands of families into debt that they will not be able to cope with. There will be thousands more county court judgements and bailiff visits and many more families struck down with the stress and worry of it all. I'm glad that there will be a £1 million hardship fund and that we will be giving the Citizens Advice Bureaux extra money to help counsel people. But the hardship fund will disappear after a year and I fear that the CAB money is far too little for the extra work they will be faced with.

This was never an easy decision to take. But when the Leader of the Conservative group says that she "knows nothing about these people," I think it tells you far more about her and her party's attitude to the poor than anything else.

UPDATE - BBC and WMN coverage of the decision

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Cornwall cabinet confirms they want £250 council tax increase for poorest

It's sad, but not a surprise, that Cornwall Council's cabinet today reiterated their decision to recommend the ending of the current council tax benefit scheme and the imposition of a £250 or more tax rise on 26,000 of the poorest families in Cornwall.

In advance of the meeting they put out a list of the cuts that they said would have to be made if they did not follow the path they have. As I have argued before, this is scare-mongering of the worst sort.

The list was produced by officers acting on behalf of the cabinet and if they really were the only options available then I certainly would not be promoting the option that I am.

But these are not the areas that would really be hit if the council was required to make additional savings. They are merely the straw men being set up to justify a wholly unpalatable decision.

And there are many other areas of discretionary spending which have not been listed.

This council does not have to spend more than a million pounds a month on consultants and agency staff - but they do. This council did not have to give £50,000 to Plymouth to support its world cup bid nor hire taxis to ferry tea and coffee between offices - but they did.

However the cabinet refused to listen or consider alternatives and chose to repeat their recommendation to full council next Tuesday. The Liberal Democrats will, once again, be seeking an alternative.

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Cornwall Council scare-mongering over council tax benefit impact

Cornwall Council has put out a press release claiming that if council tax benefit is to be fully funded in the future then a wide range of high profile services will have to be cut. They list libraries, leisure services, localism and street lighting in their hit list.

I've got a couple of thoughts on this issue:

First, they seem determined to ignore the vote of the council last week which decided against the imposition of an automatic 25% council tax benefit cut on recipients of working age. The cut to council tax benefits imposed by the government is wrong but Cornwall Council should be seeking to protect the poorest families from being forced into the arms of foodbanks and bailiffs.

Second, their latest idea of how to fund council tax benefit is scare-mongering of the worst sort. They have cherry-picked some of the most high profile services and declared them to be vulnerable to cuts.

The truth is that Cornwall Council currently spends more than £1 million per month on consultants and agency staff. Why are the Tories not suggesting that this amount could be cut by a third to fund the continuation of the full council tax benefit scheme?

The truth is the Cornwall Conservatives are wedded to splashing the cash on expensive consultants for their pet projects. The people who suffer are the poorest households. Council tax benefit is entirely means tested and is given to keep the least well off out of abject poverty.

Neither the Leader of the Council nor the Cabinet member for Finance have bothered to talk to people who rely on council tax benefit and they don't understand the impact their proposals will have. If they did, they would not be proposing such a change. 

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How do we fund council tax benefit?

Last week Cornwall Council debated the issue of council tax benefit. As posted here, the debate was inconclusive.

• The council narrowly voted that it did not want the Cabinet's proposal to impose the full cost of the government cut on working age council tax benefit recipients;
•  The council also said (even more narrowly) that it did not want an open-ended commitment to continue with the current scale of benefits if that would mean cuts to front-line services;
•  Finally, the council voted heavily against the idea of a hardship fund with the money taken from the new higher education bursary.

So there will be a new debate next Tuesday at which a firm conclusion must be reached. I'd like to hear the views of the public as to what we should do. As a starting point, it is clear that we have to have a solution. I agree with those who say that the government was wrong to impose this cut on Cornwall (and other authorities), but hand-wringing is not enough. We have to come up with a proposal.

I also believe in democracy and accept that the ideas put forward and voted on last time should not be put forward again simply because we hope that the mathematics of who is in the chamber at the time of the vote will have changed. But new ideas do not have to be fundamentally different. I suspect that the Cabinet will be looking for a solution based on the hardship fund, but possibly tweaking the total amount and definitely looking for a different source for the money.

I would like to put forward the concept of continuing with the current scheme but I accept that we need to find a definitive source for the money.

So I would like to invite ideas for what Cornwall Council should do.

• Do you think that expecting working age recipients to pay 25% is right if there is a hardship fund (given that the benefit is means tested, this fund is likely to be over-subscribed)? If so, how big should the hardship fund be and where should the money come from?
• Do you think we should carry on with the current scheme? If so, where do we find the £4.2 million to make the books balance?
• Or do you have a different idea?

I'd be keen to hear any and all ideas as soon as possible. Either leave them in the comments section or email me direct - alexfolkes@gmail.com


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Hapless Fiona blunders into another row - UPDATED

Not content with falling out with half her Conservative colleagues, Cllr Fiona Ferguson is now at war with a group representing people with disabilities in Cornwall.

In the debate on council tax benefit on Tuesday, a number of councillors raised the issue of the effect of the cabinet proposal on disabled people in Cornwall. They quoted an email that councillors had received from Disability Cornwall. In rebuttal, Cllr Ferguson played the man not the ball and launched an extraordinary attack on the credibility of the group. She claimed that the chief executive was paid £60,000 per year and expressed doubt about the work that the group does.

In response, Steve Paget, Chair of Disability Cornwall, sent an email correcting the claims that Cllr Ferguson had made. He stated categorically that the benchmark for a chief executive of a group like theirs was £46k per year but that they could not afford to pay that amount and do not do so.

Far from taking Mr Paget at his word and apologising for misleading councillors, Cllr Ferguson renewed her attacks on the organisation. She claimed that the group's annual report had made the £60k claim and attacked the 'glossy magazine' produced by the group.

Mr Paget responded again to point out that the reference to £60k salaries is one required by the Charity Commission and had no link to any pay rates offered by his organisation. He also corrected Cllr Ferguson to tell her that the 'glossy magazine' is funded largely by adverts and only appears when the group has enough adverts to cover the costs.

Of course, all this row could have been avoided if Cllr Ferguson had bothered to talk to Disability Cornwall and find out the facts before launching her ad hominem attack. But even if she didn't do so, it would have been the decent thing to do if she apologised when first corrected. As things stand, it's yet another example of why the Lib Dems don't believe that she is fit to hold a position on the cabinet.

UPDATE - Cllr Ferguson has now issued what amounts to an apology to Disability Cornwall. Let's hope she will also make the same apology at the next council meeting.


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Blue on Blue - Cornwall Council cabinet at war

It was war at Cornwall Council's cabinet this morning as Conservative and Independent members rowed among themselves about their budget proposals. Chief target was Fiona Ferguson, Cabinet Member for Finance, who announced that she would not be supporting the budget proposals for which she is responsible. Liberal Democrats have said that Cllr Ferguson's position is untenable.

As I have blogged before, Cllr Ferguson says that she is taking her national party's line and wants to see a council tax freeze. This appears to have been the outcome of a Tory group meeting last week. But today she admitted that such a freeze might not be possible.

Independent cabinet member Mark Kaczmarek was not impressed that Cllr Ferguson was toeing the party line:

"We should not be seeking to impose Westminster political party priorities on Cornwall Council" 

Asked why she disagreed with her own budget, Cllr Ferguson said:

"It can't be said that I agree with the budget because I was on holiday when it was sent out"

Apparently the idea that a local authority might be compiling a budget in December and January came as a shock to the finance cabinet member.

Cllr Ferguson has also angered her cabinet colleagues by announcing the areas where she thinks savings could be made (economic development, tourism and the chief executive's department) on the radio without discussing these with the relevant portfolio holders.

Even without a council tax freeze, Council Leader Jim Currie admitted today that the Conservative-Independent administration:

"will be leaving a £21m black hole and 5% council tax rise next year"

The Council's cabinet eventually agreed by seven votes to nil with two abstentions to approve the draft budget for recommendation to full council. That budget proposal includes a 1.97% increase in council tax. The two abstentions were Finance portfolio holder Fiona Ferguson and Economy and Regeneration portfolio holder Steve Rushworth.

Lib Dem group leader Jeremy Rowe said this:

“We are forced to ask how Cllr Ferguson can remain in the cabinet when she disagrees so completely with major aspects of Cornwall Council policy, including those within her own portfolio. Given that it is the Leader himself who is now writing and promoting the budget it may be that he could save some money by sacking Cllr Ferguson and using her special responsibility allowance to avoid some of the cuts.”

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Council rejects all options on council tax benefit

It was a case of good news / bad news at today's Cornwall Council meeting where council tax benefit cuts were on the agenda.

The good news was that the Conservative proposal to impose a 25% rise in council tax on the poorest families in Cornwall was defeated by 43 votes to 37.

The bad news was that the Liberal Democrat alternative to continue with the current scheme was also, very narrowly, lost by 44 votes to 41. A number of councillors were controversially excluded from the meeting because of their relationship to people who receive council tax benefit.

That means that there is currently no proposition on the table and councillors must reconvene before the end of January in order to seek a solution.

My argument was that it is wrong to expect families which have no spare income to pay anything between £250 and £1000 a year. Most simply cannot afford to do so and if they cannot pay, they won't. The council will therefore be tied up with endless court procedures, summonses and bailiffs. Instead, I argued that we should be using the new income from closing the loopholes on second home and empty homes council tax - which is the same amount as the cut to benefit funding.

My colleague, Ruth Lewarne, asked the Leader whether he had met with any groups representing people affected by his proposals - or any individuals likely to be affected. He confirmed that he hadn't, saying that he was too busy to do so. In a similar vein, Cllr Ferguson said:

"I don't know anything about these people"

when asked about people who would be affected by her proposal.

Cllr Ferguson, the cabinet member for finance, proposed a hardship fund of £1 million to be found by cutting the higher education bursary. This idea was heavily defeated, partly on the basis that any scheme that requires a hardship fund of around a quarter of the total amount has not been properly thought through.

The council will seek a fresh alternative before the 29th January but Liberal Democrats will be seeking to ensure that this on the basis that the poorest families who cannot afford to pay should not be made to.

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So why is the Conservative Leader's budget not the same as the Leader of the Conservatives' budget?

It seems like Cornwall Conservatives are bidding to out-omnishambles George Osborne with their budget.

On Wednesday, the Leader of the Council - Conservative Jim Currie - published his administration's finance proposals for the coming year. They are looking to find about £6.3 million of front line service cuts (despite the promise made last year that there would be no need for additional savings this year). They also propose a rise in council tax of 1.97% after two years of freezes.

But last night it emerged that there will be a different Conservative budget which will seek a further year of council tax freeze. We don't yet know any more details of this proposal and might not do so until just before the formal council tax setting meeting in mid February. That's because amendments aren't subject to formal scrutiny (but do have to be signed off by the chief finance officer of the council).

What is most strange about this whole scenario is that the cabinet member for finance is Fiona Ferguson, the Leader of the Conservative group on the council. So it appears that she is set to vote against the budget she is responsible for.

I'm inclined to think that her position on the cabinet (at least in the finance role) is untenable if she continues to oppose her own budget. Surely she must back the administration's official budget, persuade her colleagues to adopt her budget as the official one or resign from the cabinet?

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Pickles brands Cornwall Tory policy 'obscene'

Eric Pickles, the Conservative Secretary of State for Local Government, has branded the Cornwall Tory policy on council tax benefit 'disgusting' and 'obscene' and he said that the councillors promoting it are 'unambitious'.

I don't always agree with Mr Pickles, but in this case he is right.

According to today's Western Morning News, Mr Pickles was asked about plans by some councils to end the granting of full council tax relief to some of the poorest families. He said:

"That struck me as being obscene,"

"I thought it was a singularly unambitious scheme, just taxing people who are in receipt of council tax benefit rather than helping them get into work, dealing with mistakes and fraud."

He added: "Their job is not to tax the poor. It's to help the poor. That's why I'm so angry with these plutocratic leaders who are not prepared to get alongside the poor. Who are happy for people to stay on benefit."

This isn't just a case of bashing Conservatives. Both South Hams and West Devon councils are Conservative controlled, but neither is planning on cutting the rate of council tax benefit next year.

Correction: The original version of this post referred to the council policy rather than the Conservative policy. Although agreed by the Tory-led cabinet, in this case the final decision rests with the full council.

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Good news for bailiffs! Cornwall Tories and Indies back moves to impose new council tax burdens on poorest families

This morning Cornwall Council's Cabinet - made up of six Conservatives and four members of the Independent Party - unanimously backed a scheme which will force some of Cornwall's poorest families to pay up to £938 per year in extra council tax.

During the debate the Leader declared that council tax benefit - the payments they are proposing to cut - was simply

"an easy way for other people to help themselves to our resources".

As I have blogged before, the decision of the government to cut the amount of money available for council tax benefit for working age families is wrong. And the Leader is wrong to characterise recipients as scroungers as more than a third of them are working and many more are carers.

The council has to devise a scheme to pass this cut on. It has two options. One means forcing working age recipients to pay 25% of their council tax bill and to limit the benefit to Band D.

This will, in my view, force many more families into the arms of our foodbanks. It is also likely to force larger families out of areas with higher property prices - a form of social cleansing. And Cornwall Council will have to find a way of squeezing money out of people who simply cannot pay. It is estimated that there will be under-collection of between 15 and 50%. That implies that the bailiffs will be knocking on the doors of at least 4000 additional homes next year. Good business for them, but terrible news for local people.

According to Cornwall Council's own figures, this will increase council tax bills for a single parent on a low income by as much as £938.08 a year.

But Cornwall Council has the money to ensure that poorest families are not hit in this way and that is the alternative option. Just yesterday, councillors agreed to end second home council tax discounts and tighten up on council tax holidays enjoyed by those who can afford to leave homes empty. These changes will not only raise the £4 or £5 million needed to fund council tax benefit as it is at the moment but also means that the council will qualify for an extra £1 million transitional grant for one year - that's a million we wouldn't have under the council's scheme.

The cabinet decision is not the end of the story however as this matter will go to full council in the New Year. Liberal Democrats will be pressing for the alternative scheme which will use additional money paid by those wealthy enough to have more than one home to ensure that poorest families in Cornwall are not facing unreasonable rises in their council tax bills.

Cornish Guardian/West Briton coverage is here.

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