Government Capping of Medway Council will not now happenAfter three months of waiting for a decision from government since they first threatened to cap Medway Council, the news has today arrived that the council will not be capped this year after all.
This news is so important, and needs to be reported in full, that the complete uncensored Press Release by the Leader and Deputy Leader of Medway Council to the local media is copied below:
Conservative Councillors in Medway are welcoming the news that they have won a resounding victory against the government in a dispute as to whether Medway Council should be capped for setting its council tax for 2006/2007 at just pennies more than the government capping level. The news that Medway Council will not be capped, comes at a time when Medway Council has the lowest council tax in Kent by £100 than the next lowest authority, and £350 less than the Prime Minister's home Labour Authority of Sedgefield.Cllr Rodney Chambers, Leader of Medway Council stated:
"The news that we will not be capped is a resounding victory for the people of Medway--they will now avoid any cuts to front line services, as well as any cost of sending out everyone's tax bills all over again at great expense. In their decision the government have admitted that Medway Council is a low taxing authority that is recognised by inspectors as delivering good value for money. The Conservatives on this council have stood their ground where other parties have dithered. We have made our case to the government and in the end we have been proved right."Cllr Alan Jarrett, Deputy Leader of Medway Council and Portfolio Holder for Finance commented:
"The government has allowed for common sense to prevail by scrapping the cap on Medway. What makes the governments attempts to cap us even more farcical is the fact that they stole £1 million of our funding by saying they gave us too much grant in previous years. This Conservative Administration stands for good value for money. With northern Labour councils taxing as much as £350 more than us, there are serious questions now as to whether this was just a political stunt by the government that has backfired badly."