Pickles vows to close council tax referendum loopholes

Any local authorities using loopholes on the rules over council tax increases and the requirement to hold a refererendum “will lose out next year”, the Communities Secretary has threatened.

In an article in the Daily Telegraph, Eric Pickles wrote: “Authorities have a duty to support their residents. I don’t have a problem with councils that want to put up council tax if they have a good reason – to fund local opportunities.

“But I do have an issue if they don’t ask permission first. They have to man up. Be straight with people. Take them into their confidence. If the public believes you’ve got a sensible case, they might well listen. But councils should also stop treating residents with contempt. That’s why we’re making sure local people have their say by lowering the referendum threshold for council tax.”

The Communities Secretary continued: “Democracy dodgers who try creep in under the radar, putting up their stealth tax by 1.99 per cent in a bid to avoid our 2 percent referendum threshold, need a reality check. We will take into consideration anybody cheating their taxpayers. Anybody using loopholes will lose out next year.”

Pickles insisted in the article that the Government had devolved powers and finances to local government, “so people have more flexibility than ever before to transform their services”.

He also argued that initiatives such as the Community and Neighbourhood Budget pilots were proving that if councils shook things up there were savings to be made.

The Communities Secretary added: “[O]ur quiet revolution is overturning the established order of things. Localism won’t give councils any excuse to shirk their responsibilities. Increasingly, it won’t be decisions taken by the centre that determine what authorities get but decisions made locally.

“Instead, authorities need to ask the right questions. Are we doing enough to cut out the waste? Are we doing enough to innovate? Are we putting our people first? Then they will realise cash strapped taxpayers, don’t deserve needless tax rises.”

The minister added that “the days of the knee jerk tax and spend hike are over”.

The article said that 115 councils would be freezing council tax for a third year.