Council tax

croyboy · 09-11-2005, 06:30 AM

According to the BBC it looks like those of us who pay council tax in London can look forward to an increase next year (Surprise!) of at least 10%. (…And then some, I’ll bet!) This is apparently due to three things:
1/ The wretched Olympics: excuse me, but who wants to see a bunch of intellectual retards (And I mean the ‘normal’ Olympics!) running, jumping, and playing with a ball anyway?)
2/ Security in connection with terrorism, and
3/ An increase in ‘community’ policing (Translation: trying to stop mugging, drug-dealing, rioting etc.)

Earlier this year at the time of the general election I saw a letter in our local rag, the Croydon Guardian, from one Tony Newman, who is styled ‘Leader of Croydon Council’ (Dear Leader?).
http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/vie...titilation.php

In it he decried “the inaccuracies and therefore possible confusion that could be caused by the Conservative Party with regards to the asylum issue”, and ended by saying that in connection with asylum-seekers and unaccompanied children washing up on our shores “the vast majority of all costs are met by national not local funding.”
In response I sent this to the ‘Have your say’ letters column of our venerable Croydon Guardian:

Quote:

I’m most grateful to the Leader of Croydon Council, Tony Newman, for informing us in his letter of 4th May “Not just for our titillation” that in relation to the cost of asylum-seekers “the vast majority of any money spent in Croydon is spent on children”, of this “the vast majority of all costs are met by national not local funding.” However, the good councillor neglected to mention how much of local council-taxpayers’ money is in fact spent in this connection. I raise this point as the attitude of those spending money tends to be a lot more blasé than that of those paying it (You know what I mean: “A million here, a million there, and pretty soon we’re talking real money!”). I hope I’ll be forgiven for a little churlishness in this regard, but we have seen year on year increases in council-tax along with deteriorating services, haven’t we? Actually I have officially requested to know from Croydon Council how much of our money it spent on providing assistance to asylum-seekers/refugees/immigrants in the Borough for the year 2004, citing the recently-passed Freedom of Information Act, I DO hope they won’t keep me waiting too long! …And I promise to share the information with you as soon as I get it.
To return to Councillor Newman’s letter, he also said that “in some awful cases [these are] children who have been put alone on planes by distraught parents in countries that have been in conflict, such as the former Yugoslavia.” This raises in my mind – and I’m sure in those of a few other people too – a number of questions. For example:
1. What sort of parents put their children alone on a plane?
2. Why send them to Britain? There are, after all, a good half-dozen other countries which could offer asylum and are much closer.
3. If they come to Britain, why Croydon, or indeed the London area? Wouldn’t it make more sense for them to go to a region where schools are less crowded, accommodation is cheaper, and the cost of living lower?
4. Do we have any guarantee that sending their children to Britain isn’t simply a ploy by the parents to come here on their offsprings’ coattails at a later date using the pretence of “keeping the family together”?

Alas I have to report despite these highly pertinent questions to any British citizen, let alone the residents and council-tax payers of the Borough of Babylon, it wasn’t published.

Incidentally, I still haven’t found out from the council how much of our money was spent on asylum-seekers/refugees/immigrants during 2004.
You might like to know that according the Freedom of Information Act the council has 20 working days from receipt of a request to respond – which means that up to now Croydon council is in violation of said Act to the tune of some five months. It is presently in the hands of the Information Commissioner. …But the whole thing causes me to wonder exactly why the council should be so loath to disclose the no-doubt trifling sum involved.
Watch this space!

mkpdavies · 09-11-2005, 01:16 PM

Londoners are being fleeced alright and the true reasons are always hidden.

With regards to the Olympics, London will be hit hard, much harder than the current estimates (otherwise know as lies). Teh whole country will end up paying in some form or another.

Britannist · 09-11-2005, 02:18 PM

Croyboy wrote at 6.30 am today (Quote) Actually I have officially requested to know from Croydon Council how much of our money it spent on providing assistance to asylum-seekers/refugees/immigrants in the Borough for the year 2004, citing the recently-passed Freedom of Information Act, I DO hope they won’t keep me waiting too long! … (End of Quote)

My reply: Make sure they (Croydon Borough) answer you - at least with an acknowledgement - soon . If you haven't heard anything 14 days after the date of your letter to them - send another copy of the original letter by recording letter with a covering letter demanding confirmation of receipt and the date by which you should expect the answer to your question (lodged under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act) :twisted: .

What figures you do finally get from them might make a good story in the local Croydon newspapers - just so the good folk of the Borough are rightly informed of how their money is being spent :shock:

.

croyboy · 10-11-2005, 01:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Britannist

Make sure they (Croydon Borough) answer

As I didn’t want to try the patience of the good members of this forum too much, I refrained from giving a blow-by-blow account of the council-tax saga, but I assure you I haven’t been passively waiting for a reply from Croydon council: I’ve been in communication with them a number or times, resulting in effect my being given the run-around, so I duly sent (via recorded delivery) a full account of everything that transpired to the Information Commissioner when I made a formal complaint. As I’ve said above, the matter is now in the hands of said Commissioner.
My latest letter from him advised me that there will be some delay (Another surprise!) due to the pressure of work, but that I’ll hear from a Complaints Resolution Officer in due course.
Don’t worry: I’m not going to let the b*st*rds off that easily!

Britannist · 10-11-2005, 08:52 PM

Good :twisted: .

Hartlepool · 10-11-2005, 09:19 PM

Good work croyboy,well done.

croyboy · 13-12-2005, 11:31 PM

Just thought I’d let you all know that I’ve received another communication from the Information Commissioner’s Office apologising for the delay due to ‘a very high volume of work’, and asking me if I’d heard from Croydon council in the meantime (Ha, ha! …Wishful thinking!).
I hastened to assure them I hadn’t, opining that this silence is most odd, given the nature of the information I want: i.e. the amount of our council-tax spent on asylum-seekers/refugees/immigrants during 2004. After all, the Leader of the council himself has said “the vast majority of all costs are met by national not local funding” (Croydon Guardian, 4th May 2005), so it’s obviously small beer, therefore I wonder why they should be so hesitant
to tell me.
What can possibly be the problem?

croyboy · 06-02-2006, 11:42 PM

Well, late last month I did at last get an answer to my request made to Croydon Council in May, 2005, to know how much of our council tax was spent on asylum-seekers/refugees/immigrants in the Borough for the year 2004.

Quote:

Originally Posted by James Derby, the Croydon Council’s Corporate Solicitor

The London Borough of Croydon receives three Government Grants for the provision of assistance for Asylum Seekers/Refugees. In 2004/05, Croydon Council received from:-
1. Home Office:
(i) A Grant £13.144m for provision of assistance to Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children
(ii) A Grant of £1.436m for provision of assistance for Adults and & Families

2. Department for Education & Skills:
A Grant of £1.088m (estimated spend £1.905m) for Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children Leaving Care

Support is also provided outside of Government Grant regimes. In 2004/05:-
1. The Council incurred costs of £0.149k for those with No Recourse to Public Funds.
2. All education costs are covered within overall central government education grant funding, but Croydon Council does not cost it separately.

So there we have it: Council-tax payers coughed up £149,000 (I later confirmed with him that ‘£0.149k’ does in fact mean £149,000.), and all of us contributed around £15.5 million – in one London borough! …And these are the costs which can be isolated: NHS treatment and regular education are, of course, ‘free’!

Lastly, I’m pleased to report that the Assistant Complaints Resolution Officer was less than happy with the time it took our servants in local government to reply, and has indicated he’s going to give them a rocket:

Quote:

I am concerned that it has been over six months since you initially submitted your request to the Council. As you know, under section 1 of the Act, public authorities have a duty to confirm or deny whether the information specified in a request is held and, where it is, to communicate it to an applicant. Under section 10 of the Act this must be done within twenty working days of the date of receipt. I shall be writing to the Council with my concerns and seeking their assurance that future requests will be dealt with in accordance with the Act.

A tiny victory!

mkpdavies · 07-02-2006, 10:13 AM

That is an incredible amount of tax payers money.

Government grants = tax payers grants remember. Just for Croydon!

croyboy · 07-02-2006, 11:33 PM

I’ve forwarded the above interesting information to our local rag, the Croydon Guardian, pointing out to them that as council-tax expenditure is a matter of primary concern to their readers, they’d no doubt find it useful. Expect to see it published soon!

…On second thoughts, don’t hold your breath: Stop Press: Cat in tree!

09-11-2005, 01:16 PM	#2 (permalink)
mkpdavies Uber Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Woking Posts: 31,112 Party: Libertarian Party	Londoners are being fleeced alright and the true reasons are always hidden. With regards to the Olympics, London will be hit hard, much harder than the current estimates (otherwise know as lies). Teh whole country will end up paying in some form or another. __________________ http://brits4ronpaul.blogspot.com/ http://wokinglibertarians.blogspot.com/ http://lpuk.org My ignore list Labour, Blue Labour, Lib Dems

09-11-2005, 02:18 PM	#3 (permalink)
Britannist Uber Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: London Posts: 22,896	Don't give them too long to answer... Croyboy wrote at 6.30 am today (Quote) Actually I have officially requested to know from Croydon Council how much of our money it spent on providing assistance to asylum-seekers/refugees/immigrants in the Borough for the year 2004, citing the recently-passed Freedom of Information Act, I DO hope they won’t keep me waiting too long! … (End of Quote) My reply: Make sure they (Croydon Borough) answer you - at least with an acknowledgement - soon . If you haven't heard anything 14 days after the date of your letter to them - send another copy of the original letter by recording letter with a covering letter demanding confirmation of receipt and the date by which you should expect the answer to your question (lodged under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act) :twisted: . What figures you do finally get from them might make a good story in the local Croydon newspapers - just so the good folk of the Borough are rightly informed of how their money is being spent :shock: .

10-11-2005, 08:52 PM	#5 (permalink)
Britannist Uber Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: London Posts: 22,896	Croydon Good :twisted: .

07-02-2006, 10:13 AM	#9 (permalink)
mkpdavies Uber Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Woking Posts: 31,112 Party: Libertarian Party	That is an incredible amount of tax payers money. Government grants = tax payers grants remember. Just for Croydon! __________________ http://brits4ronpaul.blogspot.com/ http://wokinglibertarians.blogspot.com/ http://lpuk.org My ignore list Labour, Blue Labour, Lib Dems

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10-11-2005, 09:19 PM	#6 (permalink)
Hartlepool Uber Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: North East England Posts: 6,814 Party: Popular Democrats	Good work croyboy,well done.

13-12-2005, 11:31 PM	#7 (permalink)
croyboy Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 405	Just thought I’d let you all know that I’ve received another communication from the Information Commissioner’s Office apologising for the delay due to ‘a very high volume of work’, and asking me if I’d heard from Croydon council in the meantime (Ha, ha! …Wishful thinking!). I hastened to assure them I hadn’t, opining that this silence is most odd, given the nature of the information I want: i.e. the amount of our council-tax spent on asylum-seekers/refugees/immigrants during 2004. After all, the Leader of the council himself has said “the vast majority of all costs are met by national not local funding” (Croydon Guardian, 4th May 2005), so it’s obviously small beer, therefore I wonder why they should be so hesitant to tell me. What can possibly be the problem?

07-02-2006, 11:33 PM	#10 (permalink)
croyboy Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 405	I’ve forwarded the above interesting information to our local rag, the Croydon Guardian, pointing out to them that as council-tax expenditure is a matter of primary concern to their readers, they’d no doubt find it useful. Expect to see it published soon! …On second thoughts, don’t hold your breath: Stop Press: Cat in tree!