Member

What this means, of course, is that, taken together with the other cost pressures, this is dangerously squeezing out all the other activities that should be the core purpose of a council—the sort of council that Chamberlain would recognise—such as planning for growth, keeping the streets clean and teaching kids to swim in the local baths. The council is perpetrating a deceit on the council tax payer. Next year’s council tax rises, for the most part, are not financing local services: most of that money is being passported straight to the Treasury. I really think that the noble Lord, Lord Eatwell, who tried to stifle debate earlier this evening, should be here in his place to hear that simple truth.