Cumberland Council criticised for £23m borrowing as tax rises
A council has been criticised for approving plans to borrow £23m while raising council tax.Cumberland Council approved its budget this week, meaning families will pay £4.99% more council tax - between £1.16 and £1.76 more each week.Conservative councillor Gareth Ellis said he believed it was not a budget for residents, but for a council that was "knee-deep in debt". Councillor Barbara Cannon, who is responsible for finance at the Labour-led authority, said the council was facing "significant financial pressures" but would continue to protect its most vulnerable residents.
She said funding was "insufficient" and there was no alternative but to ask for Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) from the Government totalling £23m.Cannon said that borrowing was not a "dirty word" because it helped in areas such as providing infrastructure, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.Ellis disagreed with Labour leaders' claim that it was a "balanced budget", because it required such extensive borrowing.
'Huge debt'
Independent councillor Robert Betton raised concerns about the council tax increase at a time when people were "struggling with the cost-of-living crisis".For residents on low incomes who may need help paying the tax, the budget includes funding worth £22m a year for the Council Tax Reduction Scheme.The meeting at the civic centre in Carlisle approved a gross revenue budget of more than £800m, of which the net budget of £333m is paid for through council tax, business rates and government grants.According to a report presented to councillors, the main change for the 2025-26 financial year was the introduction of the second homes premium, which would see council tax double for second homes from 1 April.The Lib Dems and Green parties proposed amendments to the budget but they fell when put to a vote. Councillor Mike Johnson, the leader of the Conservative group, said the council was in debt to the tune of £244m, most of which was inherited from the former Cumbria County Council.He said: "If the budget is approved it will continue to increase."
Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
13 minutes ago
- Reuters
Death toll in Damascus church attack rises to 25, says health ministry
DUBAI, June 23 (Reuters) - The death toll from a suicide bombing at the Mar Elias Church in the Dweila neighbourhood of Damascus on Sunday has risen to 25, Syria's state news agency SANA reported on Monday citing the country's health ministry. It was the first suicide bombing in Damascus since Bashar al-Assad was toppled by an Islamist-led rebel insurgency in December.
Spectator
15 minutes ago
- Spectator
Reform can go further in its plan to woo back non-doms
We will hear plenty of familiar criticisms of the plan unveiled by Reform yesterday to bring non-doms, as wealthy foreigners who enjoy a special tax regime in the UK are known, back. It will make Britain a magnate for tax dodgers and money launderers. It will increase inequality. And the only jobs it creates will be as servants of the super-rich. In fact, however, the only problem with the Reform plan is that it doesn't go far enough. The party should be a lot more ambitious as it prepares for a potential government. It will certainly be a major change. After a decade over which all the political debate has been about how to impose higher taxes on the rich, Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform, will this week set out plans to bring them back. A new 'Britannia Card' will allow both foreigners and returning expats to pay a flat fee of £250,000, in return for which their worldwide income would be exempt from most UK taxes for 10 years. The money raised would then be distributed in the form of a 'Britannia worker's dividend' to low-paid employees, with a bonus worth an estimated £600 to £1,000 a year. Reform's plan has the potential to change the economic argument There are legitimate criticisms of the Reform plan. It may be complex to implement, and earmarking the income generated for a 'dividend', while politically clever, may prove too fiddly. The tax system needs simplification, not yet more complex allowances. And yet, it has the potential to change the economic argument. It is already clear that the Labour-Tory consensus on driving out the non-doms has been a disaster for the British economy, while the Starmer government's determination to put up taxes on the rich has led to an exodus of wealth and talent. Reform has recognised how damaging that has become, worked out that the UK needs to attract wealth, and recognised that the entrepreneurs and business owners who have left the UK need to be bought back. Indeed, extending the tax break to returning British nationals may well prove the most significant part of the package. But Reform could afford to go even further with their plan. The £250,000 flat fee may well need to come down if the UK is to compete with similar deals available in Italy and Greece or the zero taxes levied in Dubai and the Caribbean. A much lower annual threshold may well generate more revenue overall. And it should extend the offer to foreign entrepreneurs, with a far lower rate of Capital Gains Tax to start-ups who want to move from their high-tax bases in Paris, Stockholm or Madrid to a far more lightly taxed London, Cambridge or Bristol. The important point, however, is this. As the non-doms and the wealthy flee the Chancellor's Rachel Reeves's increasingly punitive tax regime, she will now have to defend her decisions against a very clear alternative. As the disaster of taxing success becomes clear, that will become harder and harder – and Reform's alternative will look a lot more attractive.
Scotsman
18 minutes ago
- Scotsman
The 'difficult' fight by Scotland's LGBT+ community to repeal section 28 remembered, 25 years on
Sign up to our Politics newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... LGBT+ communities have been "strengthened" by their experience of section 28, it has been claimed, as Scotland marked 25 years since the law was repealed. Section 28 was part of the Local Government Act 1988, introduced by Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It stated councils could not 'intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality', or 'promote the teaching in any maintained school the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship'. Scotland had only legalised gay sex eight years before section 28 was introduced - 13 years after it was decriminalised in England and Wales. The law was repealed on June 21, 2000, making it one of the first major pieces of legislation in the newly-devolved Scottish Parliament. England and Wales were to follow suit three years later. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Scottish Greens co-convener Patrick Harvie was an LGBT+ youth worker in Glasgow at the time and campaigned in support of the repeal. He said he still finds his memories of the fight 'difficult', particularly when he thinks back on the 'horrible, nasty' media coverage at the time. Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvie. | Jane Barlow/Press Associaton 'My memories of the repeal campaign are still quite difficult in some ways,' he said. 'None of us expected this would be the biggest issue in the Scottish Parliament. 'In the early days of devolution, there were anxieties about what the Scottish Parliament would do with human rights. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'There was still a strong story that Scotland was more socially conservative and more religious than other parts of the UK. Now that story of Scotland was not true, but it still held power in people's minds. 'When we realised the first Scottish Executive was going to repeal this, there was initially a lot of optimism and happiness. But suddenly we realised what a horrible, nasty, homophobic campaign was run against us by the media.' Mr Harvie told The Scotsman it was a 'frightening experience' for him to grow up queer in the west of Scotland, describing schools at the time as 'not a safe place'. Some of the loudest voices in the 'Keep the Clause' campaign were Cardinal Thomas Winning, head of the Scottish Roman Catholic Church, and bus tycoon Brian Souter. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Sir Brian Souter (left) and Jack Irvine from the 'Keep the Clause' campaign. | David Cheskin/Press Association Mr Harvie said: 'Cardinal Winning compared us to Nazis, which is astonishing now. But we survived it - some people say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and our community has been strengthened by this experience. 'It didn't feel like it at the time - it felt like an attack. But it has strengthened us. 'On some level, if it hadn't been for Brian Souter I would never have got into politics, so perhaps I am his greatest legacy.' Mr Harvie was planning to spend the 25th anniversary, which was marked on Saturday, reflecting on his time campaigning and giving evidence in the old Scottish Parliament building. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad First Minister Donald Dewar and Communities Minister Wendy Alexander, pictured immediately before Mr Dewar speaks on repealing section 28. | Ben Curtis/Press Association He said he hoped the anniversary could be used to highlight increasing levels of transphobia across Scotland. Mr Harvie said: 'I will remember being on the front bench of the temporary chamber before I was an MSP and giving evidence on the Ethical Standards and Public Life Act that repealed section 28. 'It genuinely felt like this new parliament had doors open and was willing to participate, and that is when we see Parliament at its best.' The Glasgow MSP added: 'Up until the last few years we have consistently seen Parliament vote in favour of LGBT+ equality and rights so it is painful to see that unravel with the growth of transphobia and prejudice against inclusive education.
