Monday, August 02, 2004
RURAL TAXATION
Rural council tax levels 'unfair'
Sparse pointed to the "higher cost" of delivering rural servicesRural dwellers in England are increasingly paying more council tax than city residents, but receiving fewer services, according to a report.
Lobby group Sparse said spending per head in its more than 50 member areas was 90% of the English average, while council taxes were 2-3% above average.
But in inner London, it said, spending was 40% above average, while council taxes were just 82-86% of the average.
Sparse is submitting the report to an independent inquiry into tax reform.
Sparse, which stands for the Sparsity Partnership for Authorities delivering Rural Services, entitled its report The Rural Council Tax Gap.
Its members are among England's most rural local authorities.
The difference between their council tax levels and those of city authorities pointed to "plain fiscal unfairness", Sparse said.
Sir Michael Lyons, the director of the University of Birmingham's Institute of Local Government Studies, is heading the government-ordered inquiry into tax reform.
The inquiry follows the release of the government's Balance of Funding Review last month.
The government's rural strategy is severely undermined by the way in which country dwellers have to pay more to get fewer services
Cllr Steven PugsleySparse Councillor Steven Pugsley, co-chairman of Sparse, said: 'We are calling on ministers to close the widening council tax gap between city areas and the countryside - as things stand, we are confronted by plain fiscal unfairness."
The way the government grant was distributed allowed urban councils to spend more than those in rural areas but to charge less in council tax, he said.
'Undermined'
"The whole of the government's rural strategy is severely undermined by the way in which country dwellers have to pay more to get fewer services."
Cllr Pugsley said: "The report notes that the grant system fails to reflect properly the effects of rural deprivation and population dispersal on the cost of providing services to far-flung rural communities."
Any changes to the council tax system, such as the introduction of new bands, should not be allowed to worsen the "already ill-favoured" position of rural areas, he said.
"Now is the time for the government to adjust the system better to reflect the higher costs associated with providing local services to country communities."
Sparse pointed to the "higher cost" of delivering rural servicesRural dwellers in England are increasingly paying more council tax than city residents, but receiving fewer services, according to a report.
Lobby group Sparse said spending per head in its more than 50 member areas was 90% of the English average, while council taxes were 2-3% above average.
But in inner London, it said, spending was 40% above average, while council taxes were just 82-86% of the average.
Sparse is submitting the report to an independent inquiry into tax reform.
Sparse, which stands for the Sparsity Partnership for Authorities delivering Rural Services, entitled its report The Rural Council Tax Gap.
Its members are among England's most rural local authorities.
The difference between their council tax levels and those of city authorities pointed to "plain fiscal unfairness", Sparse said.
Sir Michael Lyons, the director of the University of Birmingham's Institute of Local Government Studies, is heading the government-ordered inquiry into tax reform.
The inquiry follows the release of the government's Balance of Funding Review last month.
The government's rural strategy is severely undermined by the way in which country dwellers have to pay more to get fewer services
Cllr Steven PugsleySparse Councillor Steven Pugsley, co-chairman of Sparse, said: 'We are calling on ministers to close the widening council tax gap between city areas and the countryside - as things stand, we are confronted by plain fiscal unfairness."
The way the government grant was distributed allowed urban councils to spend more than those in rural areas but to charge less in council tax, he said.
'Undermined'
"The whole of the government's rural strategy is severely undermined by the way in which country dwellers have to pay more to get fewer services."
Cllr Pugsley said: "The report notes that the grant system fails to reflect properly the effects of rural deprivation and population dispersal on the cost of providing services to far-flung rural communities."
Any changes to the council tax system, such as the introduction of new bands, should not be allowed to worsen the "already ill-favoured" position of rural areas, he said.
"Now is the time for the government to adjust the system better to reflect the higher costs associated with providing local services to country communities."
