Karin Smyth MP condemns Government plan to increase council tax in Bristol South
Karin Smyth, MP for Bristol South, has urgently called on the government to scrap a planned 5% council tax rise that will add £104 to annual household council tax bills for the average Band D home in Bristol South.
[The Tory Government today opposed Labour’s motion to stop a Council Tax rise for constituents in Bristol South.]
Bristol City Council faces a funding gap because of income lost during the pandemic and the additional cost of keeping communities safe from covid-19.
Karin Smyth, MP for Bristol South, said:
“It has been an incredibly difficult year for many families in Bristol South, with so many worrying about the future of their jobs and paying the bills. Forcing councils to hit families with a council tax rise in the middle of a pandemic is unthinkable, but that is what the Government plan to do.
“After breaking their promise to support councils through this crisis, the Government are now forcing families to pay for tory mismanagement and fill the funding gap for councils in order to protect vital services.
“The Government must stop the council tax rise and provide some certainty for thousands of struggling families in Bristol South, who are already enduring the additional blows to their household income from frozen wages and cuts to Universal Credit.”