Council tax vox

The sun is out and it finally feels like spring in Oldham town centre. Nothing can shake people’s good moods – as workers sunbathe on street benches, a man shares a joke with two bobbies patrolling on horseback, and shoppers shrug out of their puffer coats like butterflies coming out of cocoons. 

Nothing, except maybe the news of their council tax going up next month. 

Like almost every local authority across the country, Oldham council is increasing the rates by just under five per cent. That’s 2.99pc general tax and a two percent precept for adult social care. 

Most of the locals the Local Democracy Reporting Service spoke to hadn’t heard about the price hike yet, after councilors had just approved the change at a council meeting on Wednesday, March 4. But almost everyone responded in the same way: a groan and an eyeroll.

“They’re taking the mickey,” said Michelle, a 57-year-old massage therapist from Lees who was sunning herself on a bench. “If they’re putting it up when there’s so much rubbish in the streets and potholes in the roads. They might be investing in the town centre, but there’s very little going into the areas around it. Just look at Clarkesfield, it’s a dump!” 

Michelle (pictured below) isn’t the only one who feels there’s an imbalance between how much people are charged and the services delivered.  

Pam, 68, a retired telesales worker, (pictured below) said while on: “It’s bloody outrageous. Everything keeps going up, up, up and wages are stuck. More and more people are living in poverty. 

“The roads are an absolute state, and when they do fix them there are roadworks everywhere at the same time so it takes an hour to drive down the road.” 

The price hike will see those living in Band A properties charged close to £1,717 – an increase of around £82; £2,003 a year for Band B (£95 increase); and £2,289 for Band C (£109 increase).

For areas like Oldham, with high unemployment, low wages, and limited job opportunities, those increases could have a real-life impact on families. 
“It’s a bit ridiculous,” Craig Davies, 39, told the LDRS. Davies is ex-military and now works for a removal company to help support his three kids with partner, Jemma Canning, 33, who does odd cleaning jobs to top up their monthly income. 

“We’re paying around £120 a month towards council tax, while living in a one bedroom flat. It’s quite a chunk of my wages every month, and for what? For them to sweep my road once a month? 

“I’ll give them their dues – they’re trying to make Oldham a nicer place to live. But we’ve got huge problems with potholes, drug users hanging about… they’re just not sorting things. 

“With the council tax going up, the prices of stuff in shops and food. I don’t have a lot of money to do anything with my kids. It just makes life a bit harder.” 

Jean Bardsley (pictured below) feels the exact same way. The 78 year old retired SEND supporter said: “I’m paying almost £200 a month, even with the 25 per cent discount. It means I really have to watch how I spend my money. If that goes up even more – Oh my god, that’s going to be nearly all of it.” 

In her older years, Jean has dreamt of going to visit her father’s grave at Lees cemetery, who passed away in a terrible accident just before she was born. 

“But the cemetery is in such a state, with ground being really unlevel, I haven’t been able to visit it,” she said. “I know I’ve never met him, but it just feels like the right thing to do now I’m getting older myself. But I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to because they don’t take care of it. So no, I don’t feel like my money is going to the right places.” 

Sheila Power has a one word verdict in response to the rise: “Disgraceful”. The lifelong Oldham resident was out with a group of hobbyist photographers in the town centre. Sheila receives the 25 per cent discount for sole occupants but says that with the state pension her only source of income – council tax takes up a big chunk. 

“You only need to do a quick 360 to see how little we’re being delivered for it,” she said. “We have a terrible shopping centre that they’ve spent millions trying to save, there aren’t any shops, the Tommyfield traders have been waiting for years to move into their new building. 

“They keep digging up the pavement and roads in the town centre, only to dig them up again a year later, and there doesn’t seem to be much difference from one version to the next.

“We might have high levels of deprivation, but that doesn’t mean the streets have to be dirty, or we can’t have a thriving town centre like Bury.” 
And Tahmin Choudhury, 29, a retail banker at Natwest, also believes the council isn’t spending the money raised from council tax on what residents need most. 

“I see councillors going around shooting promotional videos of themselves doing a single litter-pick,” he said. “That’s not helping anyone. We need a permanent solution. 

“I’d like to see the council funding actual job roles for people – even if they’re minimum wage positions to pick litter off the street. There’s so no jobs here. If I have to pay a five percent increase, I want to know it’s helping people – creating new roles. Instead I see these parades funded through the town centre and just think: what are we spending our money on?” 

Not everyone agrees. Martyn Smith, 60, moved to Oldham from Glasgow last year to help care for his girlfriend’s parents. He believes the council tax increase is ‘fair’. 

“They’re doing a lot to improve the town. There’s things that still need work, but I do understand why they need to put the council tax up. Cost of living is going up and up and that pushes costs up for the council too. 

“I’ve seen them doing a lot of work in the town centre. I think it’s great that they’re making it a nicer place for everyone. It’s just the potholes – the roads really are horrendous.”

Potholes, fly-tipping, and the local economy are a recurrent theme in residents’ complaints. In its latest budget, Oldham council has pledged an additional £20m towards highways repairs, and is setting up a rapid-response task force to fight fly-tipping. But the council can’t get around the five percent increase, according town hall bosses

Council leader Cllr Arooj Shah said: “Not raising council tax creates a gap in the budget of millions of pounds year on year that destabilises our finances. This would mean we would not be able to provide services that our most vulnerable residents need and rely on.
“It’s a reality that many councils will go above five per cent this year because they have failed to plan ahead in previous years. Thankfully Oldham is not one of those places.”

Cllr Jabbar added: “No Labour councillor wants to increase tax. However, for too long councils with lower needs and higher incomes could keep council tax low while places like Oldham had to raise it simply to maintain services.
“But now the government have made it clear: the level of local taxation is taken into account when allocating funding from government. Councils that fail to raise council tax income will be punished.”