Labour last night pledged to axe a council tax discount for “well-off” pensioners in Southampton to avert proposed hikes in the cost of care and services for the disabled.And how do they plan to identify ‘well off’ pensioners?
Of course, it doesn’t really matter, since they haven’t got a hope in hell of getting in to implement it.
Opposition councillors urged ruling Tories to scrap the ten per cent discount, worth £1m, as Conservative council leaders agreed budget plans to axe 200 jobs to help save £14m.It fell on deaf ears, as you might expect.
Labour, which aims to seize power at the Civic Centre in May elections, warned that proposed Tory cuts will fall disproportionately on the elderly and vulnerable.So, taking away a rebate for those same ‘elderly’ (unless it was means tested) wouldn’t help, would it?
Group leader Councillor Richard Williams said: “In tough times like these, the better off should shoulder more of the challenges, not those with the least. That’s why we want to reallocate the £1m rich pensioners’ council tax discount to services that help many more elderly and vulnerable people.”It’s just sound bites, isn’t it? You’ve no idea how many are actually ‘rich’ and it’d cost far more to identify them and administer this cut than you’d save.
And just what would you spend any savings on anyway?
Labour would also save the Mount Pleasant community language service, protect the street-cleaning budget and overturn a £90,000 cut in support to people suffering domestic violence, Cllr Williams said.Great! I’m sure Great Auntie Doris will happily forgo her council tax rebate knowing it’s going to immigrants, the underclass and services that the council should never be cutting in the first place.
And I’m sure she’ll vote for you as a result.
They need to save £1m, which is about the same as 4 substantial semi-detatched houses.
ReplyDeleteHow about cutting this in its entirety?
http://www.southampton.gov.uk/s-leisure/sportleisurecentres/activeworkplaces/default.aspx
Adults are quite capable of looking after themselves, thank you. There is no need for a council to be involved in any 'workplace initiative'. It's just none of their beeswax.
By the time you cut the staff, which saves on offices, and any other activities they are subsidizing, that should be well on the way to £250k, maybe more.
Tough on Carly Halford, I know, but this is a pretendy job which doesn't need doing.
Betcha I could find another three things which don't need doing because they are not the business of the council.
Ahh .. Socialism, the politics of envy ..
ReplyDelete"the Mount Pleasant community language service"
ReplyDeleteOh I get it. You import people who can't be arsed to speak English, and then make sure through other people's money they have everything they want in their own strange jabberings.
Strangely enough, the word 'pleasant' never comes into it.
Betcha I could find another three things which don't need doing because they are not the business of the council.
ReplyDeleteI bet anyone of us could find at least a dozen things that our councils shouldn't be funding. Any sane normal person could save this country trillions!
Haha. Its even worse than you can possibly imagine... Its not to teach English...
ReplyDelete"the Mount Pleasant community language service"
Oh I get it. You import people who can't be arsed to speak English,
================================
"The Community Languages Service provides extra classes for children from minority ethnic communities in Southampton, Portsmouth and Hampshire to help them learn their heritage languages.
"How about cutting this in its entirety?"
ReplyDeleteOh, yes. And I'm sure that's just the start too!
"Oh I get it. You import people who can't be arsed to speak English..."
No, no, as anon at 14:42 points out, it's worse than that!