Households across Crawley are benefitting from a real terms cut in their council tax bills, official figures reveal. This is thanks to the third year of the Conservative’s council tax freeze initiative whereby West Sussex and Crawley have worked with the Government to keep council tax down.
Under the last Labour Government, Crawley’s council tax soared 128 per cent, increasing from £652 to £1,488 for the average home.
However, with Conservatives in Government nationally and in control at County Hall and the Town Hall, council tax in Crawley has been frozen for a third year, keeping it below inflation and delivering a tax cut to provide families and pensioners with real help with the cost of living. Yet the Labour Party, both locally and nationally oppose the council tax freeze.
Added to this, the three year fuel duty freeze, cut in beer duty and increase in personal tax allowance to £10,000 all show that the Government is serious about supporting the hardest pressed households.”
Conservative West Sussex County Council prepared a three year plan back in December 2010 to deliver £79 million of savings. So far £59 million has been delivered already and the remaining sum will be realised this year.
In difficult financial times tight financial management is absolutely key and the County Council has achieved a lot by just doing things differently and more efficiently, unlike Labour that believes in spend, spend, spend, and we all know where that has got us!
At the same time I am proud that Conservatives at County Hall have invested £15 million to boost the economy, £11 million to help troubled families change behaviours and improve their lives and have accelerated it capital programme to build new classrooms in Crawley.
Conservatives at County Hall believe in building strong self-reliant communities, which is why they have transferred buildings to the community. Additionally, this year £750,000 is available for Big Society and Community projects too.
West Sussex Conservatives are right to believe our future is about continuing tight financial control; building a stronger economy, providing greater partnership working, pooling budgets to help our elderly and vulnerable live longer, fuller lives, and helping our young to a good start in life.