More cuts to Council services despite 4.99% tax rise

[Itrytoplease 10]

LOBO's (Lender option, Borrower option)are one of the main reasons councils all over the country are in trouble. The figures below are two years old, but look at the payback dates column. one at 2078.

 

Sheffield's LOBO loans

 

Principal, £

 

Initial Counterparty

 

Existing counterparty

 

Date Signed

 

Drawdown date

 

Maturity date

 

Lender's option period (m)

7,000,000 BAE Systems 2000 Pension Plan Trustees Ltd 01/12/2011 02/12/2046 1

8,000,000 Barclays 29/01/2007 29/01/2077 6

10,000,000 Barclays 23/01/2007 23/01/2077 6

10,000,000 FMS Wertmanagement29/01/2007 28/01/2077 6

10,000,000 Dexia 04/07/2007 05/07/2077 6

10,000,000 Dexia 30/09/2008 30/09/2058 6

14,500,000 FMS Wertmanagement 12/06/2008 12/06/2078 6

15,000,000 Barclays 23/10/2006 23/10/2066 6

15,000,000 Dexia 30/11/2006 /10/2076 6

17,000,000 FMS Wertmanagement 26/04/2004 27/04/2054 6

18,000,000 Eurohypo 11/06/2007 11/06/2077 6

18,000,000 BAE Systems Pension Funds CIF Trustees Ltd 01/12/2011 02/12/2046 1

20,000,000 Barclays 06/10/2005 06/10/2065 6

20,000,000 Dexia 05/12/2003 07/12/2048 6

20,000,000 Dexia 07/12/2006 07/12/2076 6

20,000,000 RBS 19/03/2009 20/09/2059 12

20,500,000 27/04/2004 27/02/2054 6

30,000,000 Barclays 22/03/2006 22/03/2066 6

30,000,000 Barclays 22/04/2004 23/02/2054 6

 

looks a bit messy, original data here - http://lada.debtresistance.uk/local-authorities/sheffield/

Edited September 28, 2018 by Itrytoplease

[truman 10]

Maybe a local income tax would be the answer? Is it right that businesses and homeowners are the ones paying all the local taxes?

 

Aren't they the ones who get most benefit from the local services?

[El Cid 219]

Aren't they the ones who get most benefit from the local services?

 

Without Googling I wouldn't know what the councils top expenditure is, maybe looking after old people?

 

---------- Post added 28-09-2018 at 10:50 ----------

 

By 2020 more than half of council tax will be spent on social care.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2015/mar/24/how-council-tax-pound-spent

 

Care for vulnerable adults 30.73%

 

Looking after children 14.63%

 

Children's education 7.67%

 

The council spend 7% on childrens education, yet many schools are now directly funded by Government, rather confusing if you want to vote for more spending on education. Remember education, education, education?

[Robin-H 11]

Without Googling I wouldn't know what the councils top expenditure is, maybe looking after old people?

 

---------- Post added 28-09-2018 at 10:50 ----------

 

By 2020 more than half of council tax will be spent on social care.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2015/mar/24/how-council-tax-pound-spent

 

Care for vulnerable adults 30.73%

 

Looking after children 14.63%

 

Children's education 7.67%

 

The council spend 7% on childrens education, yet many schools are now directly funded by Government, rather confusing if you want to vote for more spending on education. Remember education, education, education?

 

According to the leaflet you get, in Sheffield the highest spend is on education (£319m), then adult social care (£229m). This works out at about 24% and 17% respectively.

 

Confusingly however, the ‘amount each month for each household’ has education way down (£4.81 vs £29.92 for adult social care) so I must be missing something..

[Cyclone 10]

Social care will primarily be for people who were living in Sheffield though, so they have been contributing to council tax. Schooling is obviously a local provision for local people.

 

The argument for a local income tax is that property values aren't necessarily proportionate to income, particularly for the retired or for those who've owned a house for a long time compared to a new build. So it's not entirely equitable when comparing different households.

[lil-minx92 10]

Maybe a local income tax would be the answer? Is it right that businesses and homeowners are the ones paying all the local taxes?

 

Id like to see large corporations paying their due tax before another chunk of my money is siphoned off before I even see it.

[El Cid 219]

Social care will primarily be for people who were living in Sheffield though, so they have been contributing to council tax. Schooling is obviously a local provision for local people.

 

 

Old people are not any different to young/middle-aged; there are some that have had a wealthy lifestyle and paid lots of tax and there will be some that have been poor and paid very little.

 

---------- Post added 28-09-2018 at 11:16 ----------

 

Id like to see large corporations paying their due tax before another chunk of my money is siphoned off before I even see it.

 

We would all like to see others paying tax before ourselves!

Edited September 28, 2018 by El Cid

[despritdan 241]

A letter in one of the papers recounts an incident in the hospital they were working in.

 

The ward he was working in needed a blackout blind. A quote from their suppliers had come in for £832. The ward sister incensed, had gone out and got one herself from a local DIY store, cost £22.99 One of the guys fitted it for free.

 

OK, so just an anecdote on the letters page, but is this what is happening to our taxes?

This sort of thing is rampant throughout the public sector. I've worked in various schools where any items needed had to be ordered from the brochures of the companies with contracts with the schools and their prices were outrageous. I remember a member of the admin dept. at one school telling me that at the previous school she'd worked at, they were paying £75 for a single large roll of blue tissue paper. The same rolls could be bought in the shops for 75 pence for two. If the people buying the supplies were told to go online and get the best deals, they'd save a fortune.

[Cyclone 10]

Old people are not any different to young/middle-aged; there are some that have had a wealthy lifestyle and paid lots of tax and there will be some that have been poor and paid very little.

 

Simply not true though is it. The housing market has changed massively, todays 20 somethings are not at all in the same situation as 20, 30, 40 or 50 years ago.

[Anna B 1,414]

We need a lot more suitable pensioners' flats / bungalows for pensioners to down size into, to free up the housing market to families.

[The Joker 10]

We need a lot more suitable pensioners' flats / bungalows for pensioners to down size into, to free up the housing market to families.

 

the Evil Tories tried that, remember ?

 

The dreaded Bedroom Tax !

[Anna B 1,414]

the Evil Tories tried that, remember ?

 

The dreaded Bedroom Tax !

 

That was just a cruel bit of interfering. How was it supposed to help when there weren't the suitable propertied available for people to move into?