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Tories give council a thumping in Newton Farm

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From the perspective of Herefordshire Council's ruling coalition it would not be an exaggeration to call last Thursday's by-election result in Newton Farm a thrashing. The Conservative Party candidate Ann-Marie Probert won the seat comfortably with 282 votes, almost 100 more than her closest rival. What makes this result significant is that, despite their dominance across the county, the Conservatives have never represented the Newton Farm area since the council's formation in 1997. In fact, they've historically performed so poorly here that they have polled in last place positions in more than half of elections contested. During the May 2019 local elections, Tory candidate Jeremy Chapman again came last with just 43 votes and less than 8% of the vote share. Last week, Ann-Marie Probert claimed 42% of the vote. This should set alarm bells ringing for all coalition party councillors. Why? Because Ann-Marie won the election on the promise of fighting for a bypass referend...
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More council tax support needed for low-income households

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Next month Herefordshire Council will decide whether to raise council tax by a proposed 4.99%, as it tries and plug a potential budget gap of up to £16 million caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The raise is broken down as a 1.99% rise in core council tax and a precept 3% rise to support vulnerable people. For the average band D property this means an extra £6.54 a month. The raise would create a budget of £320 million for the coming year, including spending of £80 million on council-maintained schools. But the proposed rise comes at a time when many households are also struggling because of the coronavirus pandemic. People on furlough have had their wages cut and many others have been made redundant. The little increases we see here and there can add up to a lot and council leaders have to think carefully about the proposed increase in tax. THEY NEED TO DO THREE THINGS: 👉 Broaden the scope of eligibility for council tax reductions, to include those people who have been furloughed fo...
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Defending council tax

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Council tax is a dirty word. Everyone hates it, nobody wants to pay it. Or so it seems. Because despite the need for council tax reform, the concept is still sound. None of us is an island and we all use and enjoy the services and infrastructure our council provides. When we step out of our gate, we expect the roads to be maintained, the street lights to be working, and we expect the emergency services to come to our aid, should we need help. So we pay into the common pot, to share in the public services that make our lives better. Services like social care, waste collection and highway maintenance. Some we use for a short time and then never again, like schools. Others we may never need but are always there, free to use whenever there's an emergency, like the fire service and police. Our council tax provides us with a collective insurance policy. And what our tax money pays towards is, in effect, up to us. As a society we once took the decision that everybody who needs a home shou...
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