CAMPAIGN UPDATE: They Put Up Your Council Tax BUT Did Your Councillor Pay Their Council Tax?

 

Challenging Councillors

Somerset Independents asked the councillors on the district councils and the county council to refuse the increases to your council tax. Councillors voted on your council tax in February 2021. 

We spoke at the February public meetings of "Full Council" and said that councillors had mis-spent public money on the wrong priorities and that people were struggling during the Global Pandemic.

But councillors voted through the increases.

It is entirely reasonable that residents who pay their council tax expect that councillors would pay their council tax, especially when those same councillors increase our council tax and get paid an allowance from public money.

Councillors do not get a salary, but do get an allowance. The councillor allowance is paid for by those residents who DO pay their council tax.

The majority of residents pay their council tax, but it is clear from what we have found that some of Somerset's councillors HAVE NOT PAID THEIR COUNCIL TAX.

After all, amongst many other important decisions that affect residents and their lives, it is councillors that decide how much council tax residents have to pay and what the council tax that residents pay is spent on.

Somerset Independents has been doing more investigation of the approximately 250 district and county councillors that are supposed to represent residents on the four district councils and one County Council.

Since our investigations discovered that not just one but TWO Mendip district councillors had NOT paid their council tax, we have been making more enquiries about the other councillors in Somerset.

Why? Because residents have told us that it is disgusting that councillors have not paid up, and especially so when it is revealed that those same councillors continued to claim their councillor allowance for doing their councillor duties. We decided to investigate further.

Here is what we have discovered so far (as at 4/6/21 1100 hours):

• On Mendip District Council, Councillor Francis Hayden who is a Green Party Councillor for Cranmore, Doulting and Nunney, did not pay his council tax between April 2020 and February 2021 and possibly longer. He now claims to have paid it, although we have yet to have written confirmation from Mendip District Council.
• Mendip District Council has refused to reveal the identity of another councillor who was in arrears. Somerset Independents has written to all Mendip District Councillors about the arrears, and we have asked them to come forward if they know which councillor was in arrears. Zero councillors responded with the name. One Green councillor, Michael Dunk (Frome Market), even defended his Green Party colleague Councillor Hayden for not paying his council tax!
  
• All Sedgemoor District councillors have paid their council tax, as confirmed to us directly by the Council.
• SIX councillors on Somerset West and Taunton (SWT) District Council were in arrears over the 2019/20 and 2020/21 financial years. We are offering the right of reply to councillors before publishing the full details. But what we have found has happened with some of these six councillors is truly appalling. Unlike Mendip District Council, SWT Council have provided full details of the arrears and the names of the councillors.
  
• A month after the information was requested, South Somerset District Council have still not replied to our request for the information on councillor who have not paid their council tax, despite two reminders. WHAT HAVE THEY GOT TO HIDE?

We will continue our investigations.

Standing Up For Residents