I got my latest council tax statement last week.It proudly says there won’t be an increase for next year, while forgetting to mention that this is because the Government has apparently stuffed town halls with extra cash to stop them from jacking their council tax up.Most people would call that a bribe. Anyway, I read this council tax statement expecting to see doom and gloom plastered all over it, only to discover that actually, due to ‘prudent budget management’ and ‘backoffice efficiencysavings’, the council has somehow managed to balance the books.I couldn’t find any reference to 40% cuts from the Government or thousands of staff laid off and libraries shut down or, for that matter, the chief executive and all the other suits even taking big pay cuts.In fact, it all seemed business as usual. I thought there was supposed to be a spending crisis, workers on the march, dustmen turfed out of their jobs, old folk lying on trolleys in the park as their care homes have been closed, scout groups told to sling their hooks unless they cough up 50 times what they’re paying for their mouldering council scout huts, kids begging on the streets, etc, etc.And yet it’s business as usual. A few bob off here and there.Bit of a puzzle, if you ask me…
