MAYOR BURNHAM WANTS £22 ADDED TO COUNCIL TAX BILLS TO PAY FOR POLICE, FIRE AND BUS SERVICES

The Metro Mayor of Greater Manchester is looking to increase council tax by up to £12 in April for those living in a Band D property, with an annual precept to help fund homelessness shelters, the 'Our Pass' bus scheme as well as to reverse a reduction in fire engines.

Additionally he has asked that an extra £10 be added to help fund Greater Manchester Police after it was placed into special measures during 2021 as inspectors found major failings resulting in up to 80,000 crimes across the region not being recorded within just a single year.

The police allocation would go towards improvements in 999 and 101 response times which were one of the areas identified as being an issue.

Additionally, alongside extra government funding, the precept would be used to put 438 additional officers on the streets, 60 of which would be dedicated to road safety which would allow more officers to be able to focus on public transport as issues with antisocial behaviour continue to plague parts of the Metrolink network.

Mr Burnham would use a percentage of the remaining precept funding towards bringing buses across the region back under public control, although this is already being challenged by bus companies who say the plan is unfair.

He said:

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"This is a massive change. We are the first city-region in the country to use the powers set out in the legislation to do this.

"We already know there are bumps along the road because we are still subject to legal challenge from bus operators. So this is a challenging process."

 

£5 from the funding would go towards a proposed pay rise for firefighters, subject to a ballot by the fire brigades union. The pay increase will be for staff who undertake additional terrorism response training in the light of a report which heavily criticised actions during the MEN Arena attack.

This latest ask is too much according to some, with the Mayor receiving an online bashing over the past few weeks over fears that the roll out of what are termed 'Clean Air Zones' across being put in place across 500sq miles of Greater Manchester, will impact massively on the income and livelihoods of local businesses who fall foul of new rules on road usage by certain vehicles.

At the moment the scheme encompasses vehicles such as:

Van/light goods vehicle (LGV) & minibus. 

Heavy goods vehicle (HGV) 

Taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) 

Bus and coach. 

Motorcaravan (motorhome / campervan)

Which do not comply with set emission standards.

From 30 May 2022 there will be Daily charges for non-compliant HGVs; buses; coaches without a temporary exemption; Greater Manchester-licensed taxis and private hire vehicles without a temporary exemption; and taxis and private hire vehicles licensed outside Greater Manchester.

Phase 2  will start on the 1st June 2023 and will see Daily charges for non-compliant light goods vehicles (LGVs); minibuses; coaches with a temporary exemption; and Greater Manchester-licensed taxis and private hire vehicles with a temporary exemption.

At present the Mayor has denied there is any intention of expanding the charges to cars but there is a lot of mistrust as some in protest groups have pointed to failures of other pledges he has made since taking up office.

Campaigners have condemned the CAZ (Clean Air Zone) as nothing more than another tax on motorists which will see the final nail in the coffin for many businesses coming so soon after the already crippling costs of the pandemic lockdowns.

Mr Burnham insists that it is not a tax and there were not other choices but to impose a CAZ after being ordered too by central government, although protestors have cited other areas around the country which have opted to find alternative measures to reduce harmful particulates in the air.

We will be covering the CAZ in more depth in the coming weeks.

The potential raise will be decided on soon and updated council tax letters are expected to drop through letterboxes in the coming months.