Council tax & funding

An honest approach to funding the Council

WHAT WE’VE DONE

• Liberal Democrat councillors were the only group who proposed reducing Labour’s increase in Council Tax by up to 30% this year.
• We tried to ensure that monies collected from additional parking charges were used exclusively to fund air quality improvements – but Labour and Conservative councillors refused to support our proposal.
• We suggested establishing free breakfast clubs for children who receive pupil premium – this would have been funded by charitable donations on a model used by other London councils to finance projects that couldn’t be paid for out of existing budgets – but the other parties voted it down!

WHAT WE’LL DO

• Fight nationally to reform local government finance to ensure local councils are properly resourced.
• Learn how Richmond and Kingston Councils get a better service from Veolia - the same waste contractor who are currently failing Merton.
• Our Council routinely underspends its annual budget and we’ll ensure those monies are used to address real need - like helping schools meet their soaring energy bills.
• Work to make the Council an accredited London Living Wage employer, including a plan to ensure the Council's contractors are paid fairly.
• This year the Government paid Merton less than half the £98m they gave Wandsworth – who also make millions from developers building luxury skyscrapers along the Thames - there’s no comparison, so we won’t make one.