Last weeks latest utterance from the local government minister Nick Raynsford just about defied belief when threatened to cap those councils which brought forward "excessive" council tax increases.
As one of those ministers responsible for the consistent underfunding of councils this is a bit rich. His other claim to fame is being among the ministers who are constantly telling councils they have to do this and that, but offering no money to support it.
Lets look at last years financial settlement to see how Medway fared. Our excellent inspection results in education were rewarded with one of the worst cash settlements in the whole of the country.
Then there were the changes in the financial rules that determine how much councils can spend. The good news was Medway Council can spend more on services if it wants to, but the bad news is we were short changed of £13 million making it impossible to do so!
We were told to spend more on our library services, which we have done. We were told to spend more on our youth services, which we are doing.
We were told to implement electronic government, at a cost of £2 million a year, and in return were given permission to borrow £200,000 to support it. We are forced to implement a range of new care standards, and new rules for dealing with homeless people—all of which we are doing. But never once has there been any government money to support it.
No doubt it is easier to tax the people of Medway by stealth through their council tax as the council is forced to bring in change after costly change, or else face sanctions from government for not doing as we are told.
Now ministers have the cheek to threaten us for raising the taxes to pay for the policies they are inflicting on us on an almost monthly basis.
So what would council tax capping mean? It would mean real and lasting cuts to services in Medway that would affect everybody—young and old alike.
It would mean cutting the very things we have been putting in place to comply with government demands. Cuts to government demands caused by more government demands—you know it makes sense!