Here's the story:
Admittedly this looks good on the surface, however as with all Tory decisions, this one has a nasty sting in the tail for the poorer members of society, so when Parkin claims that "as a conservative controlled council we believe in low taxes", he should have added "for the rich, paid for by the poor.".
The sting, is that the same cabal of Tories have decided to increase rents on council owned properties by 6.4%, more than double the current rate of inflation, so people living in council housing will actually be worse off than they were last year.
The 1% cut is not quite as simple as it appears either, this is only applicable to ADC's part of the bill, so an increase by WSCC or Sussex Police will wipe this reduction out completely, so in the real world, the only substantial savings will be made by people in the top council tax bands, and this will only come as a reduced increase to the whole bill, rather than the reduction that is being touted by these propagandists.
But what is the truth behind this sudden need for Adur's Tories to actually care about residents? Well, the truth is, that they won't be paying for it, yes that's right, they aren't giving us a cut in taxes at all, this is a central Tory propaganda incentive, in time for the local elections in a couple of months.
Yes, as covered in This story from the Independent this cut is being funded from central government in the form of an increase of 1% to their funding in exchange for reducing council tax by 1% in order to make the Tories look like they give a damn, when we all know that they couldn't care less about us all. Here's the proof:
What do the councillors think of this cut?
The question should be then asked, if ADC aren't short of cash, then why the 6.4% rent increase?
The claim that they are providing the same level of service is a load of old cobblers too, since the merger, (what merger?) with Worthing, we have seen services decimated, local offices sold off, cash offices closed, computer systems that are repeatedly crashing, and a telephone system that I have been led to believe isn't fit for purpose either, there are plenty of other cuts too, one of which I'll get on to in a bit.
What does the Chair think?
I'm not too sure about this "best rubbish collection services in the country" either, I can't find any ratings system for this, or any documented, (or other) proof that this is anything aside from another load of old Tory hot air.
What is more worrying about Mendo's statement, is that he claims that ADC have been stockpiling cash reserves whilst trying to convince us all that we are all having to suffer cuts and rent increases because of the last Labour government, (that old gem). They claim that they don't need our money, yet they still seem to want to repeatedly increase their allowances and now admit to having plenty put aside, when they still claim that the Civic Centre is falling down due to not having enough cash for renovations. It's all bullsh*t, and the people of Adur swallow it willingly, and are expected to be grateful for a few crumbs thrown, that aren't even from the local council's table.
In reality, this cut is not coming from local sources, it is coming from our schools and hospitals (the ones that haven't been sold off already), because the cuts to these services are why central government can afford to offer a carrot to any willing propagandists, whilst beating the poor with the stick.
As for ADC's rubbish collection service, it really is a RUBBISH collection service. Maybe the affluent areas of town get looked after but down here in Sh*tsville, it's business as usual......
TTFO
I CBM
