Southport MP Damien Moore says he is appalled by the “abominable” decision to demand an extra 4.99% in Council Tax from local families as they struggle to cope with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Labour-led Sefton Council last night voted to pile more tax onto hard working local people, on top of the 4.99% increase they levelled last year.

Much of the cash raised will go towards paying for the Labour council’s doomed purchase of the Strand shopping centre in Bootle, which has lost £1.5million this year.

At the Sefton Council Budget meeting last night Labour voted for the 4.99% Council Tax increase while Conservative councillors voted against.

Southport Conservative MP Damien Moore said: “At a time when families are under huge financial pressure due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the decision to impose nearly 5% rises on people’s Council Tax bills is truly abominable.

“This will mean an extra £72.44 a year for people paying a Band C Council Tax bill.

“This is particularly galling after this incompetent Labour Council bought the Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle at a cost of £32.5million.

“This huge waste of money has lost £1.5million this year alone, so people in Southport are now having to pay for the mistakes of councillors in Bootle.

“Between 2017 and 2019 the value of the Strand shopping centre fell by £5million. I dread to think what it would be worth now - not very much.

“Local residents will be paying for this blunder for years to come.

“In Southport, the Labour-led Sefton Council is destroying local businesses and livelihoods by taking away vital car parking spaces in Southport town centre by imposing unnecessary cycle lanes instead.

“The removal of parking spaces on Hoghton Street alone will cost the council £137,000 in lost revenue each year.

“In contrast, this Government is investing substantially in Southport, with £37.5million this week announced via Southport Town Deal to bring new jobs, new investment and new hope.

“The Government also announced an extension of the furlough scheme; Restart grants of up to £18,000 to get our retail, hospitality, leisure and personal care businesses going again; the extension of the Business Rates holiday; continuing our Stamp Duty cut; extending Universal Credit and Working Tax Credits; a brand new 95 per cent mortgage guarantee for prospective homebuyers; and many more measures too.

“For the Labour-led Sefton Council in Bootle to demand an extra 4.99% in Council Tax from hard working local families this year to pay for their mistakes over the Strand shopping centre in Bootle and their incompetence over the cycle lanes in Southport shows just how out of touch they are with reality.”

Sefton Conservative Group Leader Cllr Tony Brough was among Conservative councillors who voted against the controversial Budget.

He said: “West Orchards shopping centre in Coventry that eight years ago was valued at £37 million was sold earlier this year for £4.9 million, setting alarm bells ringing among lenders, landlords and local authorities nationwide.

“The purchase of the Strand Shopping Centre by Sefton Council for £32.5m in 2017 reveals a very poor return on investment.

“Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors valued the Strand at £27.2million in 2019 - £5m less than the purchase price two years earlier. That valuation when laid against the actual 2021 sale of the West Orchards Shopping centre indicates that the Institute’s valuation to be grossly inaccurate.

“My investigations reveal that unrecoverable back rents and service charges for the Strand tenants are estimated by Sefton Council to be £2.9m and rising.

“The decision taken by Sefton’s Labour Group to buy the Strand Shopping Centre has created an unnecessary financial burden for every Sefton Council taxpayer.

“The £1.5million loss through the Strand shopping centre this year equates to a 1% reduction in Sefton’s Council Tax burden; £1.5m that could have been spent on Children’s Services;
£1.5m that could have been spent on Adult Social Care.

“There is no justification in demanding higher Council Tax bills to fund commercial debt
The losses attributed to the Strand.

“The fault lies quite squarely with incompetent management by a group of Labour councillors who are quite clearly are out of their depth.”

Who woke up our MP? Did he manage to think all on his own?

Perhaps if he made an effort in Westminster to get an adequate settlement for Sefton Borough Council, then the Council they would not have to seek additional money from local Council taxpayers.

It is not as if the Tory government is short of money, judging by that spent on chums and cronies, or that reportedly spent on their flat by Boris’s latest mistress.

Well, what else did he expect, there’s not a single Labour controlled Council in the Country that won’t raise Council Tax by the maximum amount allowed.

Originally Posted by roving-eye

A) “In Southport, the Labour-led Sefton Council is destroying local businesses and livelihoods by taking away vital car parking spaces in Southport town centre by imposing unnecessary cycle lanes instead.

B) “For the Labour-led Sefton Council in Bootle to demand an extra 4.99% in Council Tax from hard working local families this year to pay for their mistakes over the Strand shopping centre in Bootle and their incompetence over the cycle lanes in Southport shows just how out of touch they are with reality.”

A) Here we go again, scapegoating the humble bike for all the towns ills....If motorists had kept to the 20mph limit and respected cyclists roadspace (passing with 1.5m clearance) instead of whizzing past alarmingly close - there would have been no need for cycle-lanes - duh!

B) And again, yet more unfair cycle scapegoating, this time for the 4.99% Council-tax rise......As it happens, the pop-up lanes were funded by Govt - not from Council-tax!

You could buy 1000 shopping centres with the money wasted on a track and trace system that doesn't track or trace people adequately.

Originally Posted by justbecause

Well, what else did he expect, there’s not a single Labour controlled Council in the Country that won’t raise Council Tax by the maximum amount allowed.

Probably because as an average it’s Labour controlled councils which have suffered more cuts in National funding, yet are expected to take on more responsibilities, tell me where do you think the cash is going to come from?

Of course as we all know, or should know, Tories love sticking extra expenditure on to Councils, then when complaints about tax rises come, shake their heads and say not me guv, it’s your local council doing this, deflection tactics as per normal.

Originally Posted by silver fox

Probably because as an average it’s Labour controlled councils which have suffered more cuts in National funding, yet are expected to take on more responsibilities, tell me where do you think the cash is going to come from?

Of course as we all know, or should know, Tories love sticking extra expenditure on to Councils, then when complaints about tax rises come, shake their heads and say not me guv, it’s your local council doing this, deflection tactics as per normal.

You may not remember when all the complaints were made of local councils wasting taxpayers money on ridiculous, throw away ideas. It was necessary to introduce good housekeeping for every council across the country, which is just what the Conservatives did. Every other council appears to be managing - except for Sefton.

It is noted that huge investments are being made in both Crosby and Bootle, I do not begrudge such investments being made in these areas, but investments are only good if the returns on those investments are good. It would make far more sense to invest in those areas which have a far higher potential first, before spending on areas with a lower potential. This is standard business strategy. It would appear then, that the constant whinging about not having sufficient money is due to a lack of foresight and good business acumen.

Instead of paying out exhorbitant costs on agencies to provide investment advice which suits their own agendas, it would be far better, and less costly, to engage a local agency whose advice would be far more accurate, and would ensure that the Council are not made to look gullible in any way.

Originally Posted by said

Every other council appears to be managing - except for Sefton.

Sefton is managing a lot better than a lot of councils.

Originally Posted by said

You may not remember when all the complaints were made of local councils wasting taxpayers money on ridiculous, throw away ideas. It was necessary to introduce good housekeeping for every council across the country, which is just what the Conservatives did. .

Typical Tory thought process, local councils provide services, they are not businesses, your theory of putting the money where it gets the best return is precisely why affluent areas prosper and deprived areas suffer even more.

Tory good housekeeping and financial efficiency, are just high sounding terms for CUTS, no more no less.

QLocal is becoming a conveyor belt of manipulative Tory propaganda press releases, which are seemingly printed without question by this website. I'm no fan of Sefton Council but ten years of Tory cuts have crippled councils all over the country. What are councils going to do? Furthermore, the people of Southport deserve a better MP.

It is fitting that Council Officers and Councillors are called-out on an investment decision that did not work out the way they had anticipated. The acquisition of Bootle Strand in 2017 certainly did not work out the way they had anticipated!

The background to this particular gamble is many years of meddling from the centre in local affairs. There have been, of course, many instances of malfeasance in local government that required remedy since the 19^th century. However Sefton along with numerous other English Councils which have had their scope for action pared back by successive governments, have been encouraged, if not obliged to seek guidance from consultancies. In the face of central governments' propensity for making their savings by inflicting austerity on Councils lead many to investment in commercial property with the connivance of the Exchequer, on the grounds that it would reduce reliance on grants.

These reductions provide a direct incentive for authorities to seek alternative sources of funding. Local authorities have greater freedom around, and may be able to obtain more money from, commercial activities than from ‘traditional’ sources of revenue such as council tax, business rates, and local fees and charges.

— Local government: commercial property investments

In the circumstances if Sefton Council had been in the control of Conservative and/or Liberal Democratic Councillors (as other Councils in this position were), then would they have acted differently? Quite probably, NOT!

Councils in Surrey own properties worth at least £360 million
— all bought as investments with taxpayers' money.

Spelthorne Borough Council purchased the BP buildings …

They always look after their own it's no secret it has gone on for generations

this is from 2018 Labour-run areas suffer Tory cuts the most. It’s an ignored national scandal | Social care | The Guardian

. It was necessary to introduce good housekeeping for every council across the country, which is just what the Conservatives did. Every other council appears to be managing - except for Sefton.


It's not good housekeeping to take away £300 million of a Council Budget. And the only Council that has been declared Bankrupt was Northants which just happened to be controlled by the Conservatives

Not half as appalled as most people are at the Government for their pathetic pay award to NHS staff. With a reasonable award they would easily have been able to pay the council tax increase.

What’s your take on this Damien?

Lost your tongue?

Originally Posted by roving-eye

Southport Conservative MP Damien Moore said: “At a time when families are under huge financial pressure due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the decision to impose nearly 5% rises on people’s Council Tax bills is truly abominable.

Lancashire is also going up by 4.99%. That's run by Conservatives.

Both (along with almost every other local authority) have been stiffed by the Conservative Government at Westminster, year after year after year.