Please don’t feel insulted by the next paragraph as this is written specifically for the leader of the council who tonight described inflation as ‘a crude measure’
Inflation – a general increase in prices and fall in the purchasing value of money
Perhaps economics was / isn’t his strong point so here’s a helpful guide and why it’s not a ‘crude’ measure
Back to the post…..
Firstly, apologies for the first paragraph, it’s incredibly frustrating for us that something so important is almost made to sound trivial. Anyway, tonight’s Council meeting was mainly about the Conservatives justifying the council tax rise and them voting it through. Cllr Cutmore was happy to pay more council tax (not surprising with the amount he’s collecting in allowances), whilst Cllr Hoy reminded Cllr Sperring that he had shifted costs and in effect council tax rises on to the parishes by pushing the public conveniences onto them. We’re afraid Cllr Sperring or the public aren’t going to forget this blunder of a decision anytime soon.
Cllr John Mason s….p…..e…….l……..t. out to the Tories the overall affect of the council tax rises on residents when all precepts were taken into account, nearly 5% equating to around an additional £80 per year on our bills.
Cllr Simon Smith took a last opportunity to not only remind members that Rochford Council has no control over the other precept rises, but also to get his numbers mixed up again. He’ll get sent to the back of the class if he’s not careful as he seems to be make a habit out of this and he’s the portfolio holder for finance – not inspiring.
So overall nearly a 2% above inflation rise. Dig deep people
Am I the only one who thinks the whole tone of this site has changed and not for the better. We now have a style more suited to the daily mail than a reasonably balanced viewpoint ( albeit with a Liberal slant ). Your not doing yourselves any favours here, I have contributed to this forum for years but much more and I’m off.
Writing this blog isn’t easy to appeal to reader across all demographics and we are genuinely disappointed that the tone is not what you expect. We realise that it was never going to be the same after Chris’ passing. We will endeavor to try harder in the future, please bear with us! Of course, if you wish to submit a post for the site please feel free – reader participation is most welcome