Lib Dems Show Tax Doesn't Have To Be Taxing

12.00.00am GMT Thu 17th Mar 2005

Liberal Democrat-led councils have set the lowest council tax increase in Wales according to new official figures. The average council tax increase in Lib Dem-led authorities, excluding police and community council precepts, is 2.32%. In Labour-led councils it is 5%, in Plaid Cymru-led councils it is 8.8% and in Conservatives-led councils it is 4.31%.

The Liberal Democrat administration in Cardiff actually cut council tax by 0.57% setting the lowest increase in Wales. The next lowest increase was in Lib Dem-led Wrexham at 1.88%. The highest increase in a Lib Dem council was 4.68% in Bridgend. This was well below Plaid's 8.8% in Gwynedd and Labour's 6.41% in Blaenau Gwent.

Mike German AM, Welsh Liberal Democrat local government spokesperson, said: "The Liberal Democrats, where in power, are showing that you can deliver without squeezing taxpayers. Lib Dem-led authorities have set sound budgets that deliver services but don't over-tax residents.

"The random redistribution effect of re-banding has put councils in a difficult position. Liberal Democrat-led authorities across Wales have done their uttermost not to make the tax burden heavier."

Cllr Rodney Berman, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrat group on the Welsh Local Government Association, said: "Many Welsh councils are now under Liberal Democrat leadership because people are fed up with high council tax rises set under Labour in the past. In Cardiff, for instance, this year's cut in council tax contrasts starkly with an average rise of over 11% during the previous 9 years of Labour rule in the Welsh capital.

"The Liberal Democrats believe that council tax is an unfair tax. We've been campaigning for many years to replace it with a fair local income tax based on ability to pay. Labour Assembly Government's re-banding has made this case even more compelling. Many people will still pay significantly more this year despite the best efforts of Liberal Democrat-led councils."