"The system is broken": Trafford Lib Dems respond to shock council tax news

Trafford Liberal Democrat Leader councillor Shaun Ennis has hit out at Conservative and Labour politicians following news that Trafford residents will face a 7.49% increase in their council tax bills this year.

The rise is above the usual legally permitted 4.99% maximum after the Government gave Labour-controlled Trafford special permission to go further to bridge an eye-watering budget gap of £12 million.  

Councillor Ennis said, “This is extremely unwelcome news for people across Trafford.  Especially those who have been struggling to make ends meet. Our budget gap has been directly impacted by the disastrous start Labour have made in government. When the new Chancellor stood up to present her first budget, our funding gap here in Trafford was £9.8 million.  By the time she sat down, it had grown to £12 million. All because of Labour’s hike in employer’s national insurance contributions.”

Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s decision to put up national insurance contributions for employers has hit social care providers hard, who have in turn passed these costs onto councils like Trafford. Ennis also took aim at the local Conservatives over past decisions to freeze council tax.

“When the Conservatives ran Trafford, they irresponsibly froze council tax for five years even though they knew it would cause difficulties down the road. That decision lost Trafford Council £14 million a year. This year we have a budget gap of £12 million. Our residents can do the maths even if the Tories can’t.”  

Social care services now account for most of the financial pressures facing councils, with demand for those services still growing.

Councillor Ennis said, “The system is broken.  People expect councils to be focused on the basics like repairing our roads, emptying the bins and maintaining the drains. The reality is that councils like Trafford are running themselves into the ground trying to provide social care services for people who need them.”  

“These services are vital. But to deliver them properly we need a National Health and Social Care Service to take these responsibilities away from councils. That is the big picture change that is needed here and until the government gets serious about it, more councils up and down the country will find themselves in this position.”