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Bradford unwilling to pay council tax bills after 10% hike

The city’s vulnerable households will be hit hardest by the council tax hike, campaigners warn

People in Bradford are worried about the problems of fly-tipping, food banks and unsafe roads worsening and now they are about to pay more for the privilege of seeing their council make sweeping cuts.

The Labour-run council has been granted special authorisation to increase council tax by nearly 10 per cent this April as it battles to stave off bankruptcy.

For many people living in the city who fear they will be paying more for less, “enough is enough”.

Campaigners and resident say families already struggling – and are often forced to rely on food banks – will be plunged deeper into poverty.

The leader of the opposition at Bradford Council, Conservative Rebecca Poulsen, said residents are worried about the prospect of their bills rising by 9.99 per cent, even though it is a lower rise than the 15 per cent the council had requested.

“I’m afraid people aren’t looking at that going, ‘oh, that’s all right then’. People are still really, really concerned about how they can afford this.

“I was talking to a pensioner the other day, and she already pays 25 per cent of her income on council tax. And she said, ‘I just can’t afford [this]. I have a fixed income as a pensioner. I can’t afford to pay another 10 per cent.’

“It really is going to be really hard on people and I just don’t see what they’re getting for the money either.”

Abbas Najib, chief executive of the charity Better Communities Bradford, whose work focuses on supporting disadvantaged groups, said the council risks a public backlash if services don’t improve.

There is “an impression that despite this council tax increase, residents will continue to see cuts in services and not see subsequent improvements,” he said.

Abbas Najib, CEO of Better Communities in Bradford,
Abbas Najib, CEO of Better Communities Bradford, said locals were not convinced they would see improvements to services

Mohammed Ali Amla, an education charity worker who lives in Bradford with his wife and two children, said his biggest concern is the financial implication on those already in dire straits.

“At a time when the cost of living crisis is already a major issue, this is going to create massive problems for communities in Bradford.”

He added that there was “a huge amount of anger and upset” as residents fear cuts to public services. “I don’t believe Bradford Council has fully thought out the impact it is going to have.”

Three of Bradford’s council tips permanently closed last year as the local authority looked to cut costs.

Poulsen said the result has been “loads of fly-tipping on our country lanes“.

“Every day I’m reporting fly-tipping,” she said. “People want the basics done properly. They want to be able to drive on a safe road. They want the street lights working. They want the bins collecting.”

Mohammed Ali Amla, who lives in Bradford
Mohammed Ali Amla is concerned about the impact a 9.99 per cent rise in council tax will have on residents already struggling (Photo: Supplied)

Many locals are particularly concerned about “unsafe” proposals to axe school buses that transport children in rural areas to school, she added.

“Some of the ways that children would have to walk to school are where there’s no footpaths; on country roads with no street lights.

“It isn’t safe, so this is going to lead to more parents having to drive the children to school, which is going to lead to more congestion, more traffic, more emissions around school. Everything the council said they’re trying to do the opposite of.”

The council was stripped of control of its children’s care services following the 2020 murder of 16-month-old Star Hobson, who was known to social services.

As a result, children’s services are now placed in a not-for-profit trust owned by Bradford Council but run at “arms-length” under the control of a new independent chair and board of directors.

“It’s a much more expensive way to deliver services,” Poulson said. “The council has put in over £200m into the trust to run this service.”

The £50m taxpayer-funded Bradford Live entertainment venue, set to be a landmark feature of the City of Culture activities that launched last month, is yet to open after NEC Group pulled out.

“It’s now sitting there, beautifully finished, ready to go, but closed because the council has no one to run it,” Poulson said. “That’s just another example of absolute waste.”

Benjamin Elks, grassroots development manager at the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said many will be worrying how to make ends meet while town hall bosses are “pleading poverty but managing to find the money for pointless pet projects like the City of Culture”.

Green councillor Matt Edwards said “a substantial number” of people had been contacting him to voice their unhappiness to the council tax rise. “Bradford residents have faced quite a long, prolonged period of cuts to local services and paying they’ve been paying more over the years for that,” he said.

“Ultimately, 80 per cent of the council’s budget goes on adult and children’s social care, and they are some of the most vulnerable in our district, and they’re the ones that are going to be facing the brunt of these cuts.”

(FILES) In this file photo taken on May 24, 2022 volunteers put fresh produce into a food parcel for a client attending the Bradford Central Foodbank in Bradford, northern England. - UK inflation accelerated in June to 9.4% year-on-year, hitting a new four-decade high - in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis - which may push the Bank of England to tighten its rate policy. The acceleration in prices in June was fuelled by fuel and food, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in its monthly report published on Wednesday. In May, inflation was 9.1% year-on-year. (Photo by OLI SCARFF / AFP) / TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY JOE JACKSON (Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)
Council tax and the associated debt are a leading cause of the need for food banks, Feeding Britain’s national director said (Photo by Oli Scarff/AFP)

Andrew Forsey, national director of anti-hunger organisation Feeding Britain, which works in Bradford and Keighley, said he was deeply concerned about how the increase could increase reliance on food banks.

“Advice workers from the frontline often report that council tax – and the associated debts and arrears – are a leading cause of the need for food banks,” he said.

“They and I will be deeply concerned about what these forthcoming increases might mean for the length of queues outside food banks.”

Juliette Flach, policy and public affairs manager for Bradford-based Christians Against Poverty, said with many people on low incomes unable to afford the basics, the charity was concerned people who miss a council tax payment being ordered to pay 12 months upfront, pushing them into further debt.

“This system is unfair and needs to be changed to prevent inflicting further hardship on those already struggling in poverty.”

Bradford, one of six local authorities permitted to increase council tax beyond 4.99 per cent, will meet in March to decide its budget, including a final decision on setting council tax levels for the coming year.

Its leader, Susan Hinchcliffe, said in a statement released on Monday: “This decision to request a one-off increase in council tax beyond the usual 4.99 per cent was not taken lightly.

“None of us want to see an increase in council tax when other bills are also rising but we have a responsibility to make sure the council’s finances balance.”



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