Fenland residents to see two per cent cut to district Council Tax bill

It’s “immoral” to take money from residents when it isn’t really needed, Fenland District Council's leader said as he introduced a two per cent cut to Council Tax.

The decrease, unanimously agreed by councillors, means that someone living in a typical Band D property will pay £255.24 for Council services in the next financial year (beginning in April), down from £260.46 last year.

Speaking at an FDC meeting this week, leader Chris Boden said that "it's quite immoral, just for the sake of it, to take more money from residents than we need to”.

He added that the council "sytemically over-budgets" and is projected to built up a £69,000 surplus from unspent Council Tax this year.

Calling for the cut, he said: "The best people to spend residents’ money are the residents themselves and the more money we can leave in residents’ pockets and bank accounts the better."

Cllr Steve Tierney (Conservatives) agreed, telling councillors that he’s “excited and proud” that FDC is in the position to introduce the cut, which he insisted is not just an “election year special” but part of a longer commitment which has seen Council Tax frozen for the last four years.

Bills will still rise overall

But while the Council element of the bill will be lower this year for Fenland residents, hikes to other elements of the bill still means an overall rise.

Cambridgeshire County Council has agreed to a 4.99 per cent increase, while the Police and Crime Commissioner has added 5.80 per cent and the Fire Authority 6.60 per cent.

There is also the new Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority precept on top of this, adding an extra £12 to Band D property bills.

People ‘sick’ of services suffering

And Fenland residents are still “paying over the odds” compared to residents in other areas, according to Cllr Gavin Booth (Liberal Democrats), pointing to King's Lynn and West Norfolk as areas where District Council taxes are lower.

He also questioned whether the Council’s services are up to scratch (another of Cllr Boden’s justifications for introducing the cut), arguing that there are still issues with recycling, street lighting and residents being unable to contact FDC by phone.

“We’ve had several instances [at the meeting] today where services are suffering and people are quite sick of it,” he said, while still supporting the cut.

FDC’s budget currently assumes that, after next year, Council Tax will neither increase nor decrease for the following few years.

But Cllr Boden said that it’s “not impossible” further cuts are in the pipeline following “years, if not decades, of prudent financial operations”.