Kirklees Council may become the first in the country to host a referendum on ignoring Government caps on council tax rises. Currently, council tax increases are limited at 2% and councils are encouraged to freeze their citizen’s bills with financial incentives. However, Kirklees must make “drastic” cuts to its £70m budget over the next three years, and is facing laying off 1,000 of its 7,000 staff, as well as cutting funding to care, libraries and museums. As a result, it has suggested increasing council tax, but must receive majority support in a public vote to do so. Council leader David Sheard has claimed the authority will first get feedback on whether the public back the idea, to avoid an expensive and fruitless referendum taking place without reason.

Question – should Walsall follow suit?
Although I felt that council tax should not be increased this year if it could be avoided, I’ve always disliked the fact that our local authority is restricted by central government when it comes to council tax. It seems odd to me that if the council did think it necessary to raise council tax more than 2%, because it didn’t have enough money to do what people wanted, that it would first have to spend money on a referendum, even if, as this year, the budget was decided by extensive consultation involving more people than those who might bother to vote in a referendum!
What do you think?