Wirral’s council leader said “we felt we had no choice” but to bring in a near 5% Council Tax in the borough.
Cllr Janette Williamson, the local authority’s Labour leader, made the comments after a budget meeting on February 27 which saw the rise approved as part of this year’s budget. £28m in cuts and savings were also passed by the council.
The Council Tax rise will raise additional money aimed at protecting services such as libraries, swimming pools and leisure centres as well as avoid reductions in park maintenance and street cleaning.
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The budget was passed with the support of Labour, Green and Liberal Democrat councillors. Despite voting against the budget, the Conservatives voted with Wirral’s three other parties to support the tax rise.
Analysis by the County Councils Network showed that at least three in four councils across the country are raising Council Tax and Liverpool City Council this week also approved a similar rise.
Cllr Williamson said if the council hadn’t gone ahead with a Council Tax rise, councillors would have had to find an extra £8m in cuts as it would affect the local authority’s income in future years as well.
She said: “We had spoken about the potential rise in Council Tax for months and it wasn’t an easy decision to take and shared by the other two groups (the Greens and Liberal Democrats). We felt we had no choice really and didn’t know where to turn, particularly as government funding was contingent on us using that mechanism.”
Cllr Williamson also criticised Wirral’s Conservative councillors after they admitted they had voted for a Council Tax rise at the budget meeting on February 27 despite campaigning against it.
Conservatives said after the meeting they had voted against the budget because of the Council Tax rise but had actually voted for it in the votes. Cllr Tom Anderson, who leads the Conservatives, said it was due to “having been outvoted by Labour.”
Cllr Williamson said: “It’s the biggest own goal I’ve seen them score anyway. If you’re going to campaign on a single issue, that’s the issue you make sure you’re very tight on and vote in the way you’re meant to vote on it.
“It’s a huge thing. Very few councils have not increased their Council Tax so it was a huge thing they were going out on a limb about anyway and yet they got into the chamber, who knows what happened but they voted for it.”
Cllr Williamson added: “I just think budget council is so important, so important, that people should have read the papers and done their homework and come in with some coordinated plan, whatever that plan might be, to be able to justify what you’re going to do.
“I think they either didn’t have a clue what they were doing which isn’t a great look for the second largest party.
“That is also not a great approach because it shows they didn’t know what they were doing at all on the night. I just don’t think they are fit to certainly lead the council going forward. It’s either incompetence or well incompetence really.”
Looking ahead to this year’s elections, Cllr Williamson said: “I don’t think they have much to campaign on. They voted against keeping all of our services open but still to increase people’s Council Tax.”
The Conservatives accused Labour of pushing difficult decisions around budget cuts back until after the council elections in May with Cllr Anderson saying the budget was a “sticking plaster.”
Cllr Williamson said: “I think that’s a bit rich coming from a party that knew we couldn’t not increase our Council Tax because the money wasn't there and I would say back to them that’s why they were doing that to put on their leaflets to get them past May.”
She said the budget was about ensuring the future of services and called the accusation disingenuous and petty given the Liberal Democrats and the Greens had voted for the budget too.
Having just passed this year’s budget, Cllr Williamson confirmed the council is already looking ahead to next year where it's expected to make further cuts though proper discussions won’t happen until after May’s elections.
Asked whether cuts to libraries, leisure centres and swimming pools this year could come up next year, Cllr Williamson said: “I just can’t say at this point in time. There is money to be saved next year but there’s too many ifs and buts. We’re going to do our best to ensure services remain open.”
Questions still remain about the council’s new finance management system which is expected to go live next month. It was due to go live in April 2022 but was delayed after it failed to launch.
This is an issue Conservatives have heavily criticised Labour given the delay and raised concerns about "waste" and the management of public money during the budget discussions.
Cllr Williamson said she has now asked for a meeting to find out the reason for the delay and what impact that would have on the council but said it was not something she has been directly involved in.
Wirral Council in 2021 was heavily criticised for the management of its finances and had to ask for a more than £10m bailout from the government. A recent inspection of that year found “significant weaknesses” in how the council runs and manages its finances but said things have improved since.
After the bailout, the council was placed under an independent watchdog which monitors what it does but Cllr Williamson said: “I am optimistic that they will be able to say after the May elections that their job is done here.”
As for what people will think of a Council Tax rise on the doorstep, Cllr Williamson said generally people had expected it to go up but “we’ll see.”
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