Council leader Pete Marland was put in the spotlight over a ‘political’ decision not to demand more money in April’s council tax for adult social care services.
At a meeting on Wednesday, Labour leader Cllr Marland (Wolverton) found himself being grilled by councillors – including one from his own party who disagrees with a decision to cap MK borough’s council tax increase to 2.5 per cent.
The Government has given councils including Milton Keynes the power to increase council tax by up to five per cent, which would include a 2.5 per cent adult care levy.
But Cllr Marland’s administration has decided to go for a 2.5 per cent rise in its share of April’s bills, and not to receive an extra £2 million extra for under pressure adult care services.
Cllr Marland told a meeting of the budget and resources overview and scrutiny committee that the pandemic-hit council faces a gap of £15million in its budget for 2021-22.
But, over time he expects income from car parking and council tax collection to improve, and the council can dip into reserves in the short term.
Cllr Marland said: “The council could have set a council tax increase of up to 5 per cent, we could cut services, or we could take the third option of taking a prudent view and making a small increase to council tax and using our reserves to balance the budget.
“We’ve saved our reserves for a rainy day, but it is not just raining out there it’s ******* it, sorry, it’s very very windy.”
The council he said would also be making £9 million in cuts.
But he added: “The administration has taken both a prudent view and a political view that at a time when inflation is 0.5 per cent and when many people are losing their jobs, a 2.5 per cent local council tax increase is the right thing to do this year.”
He said another option could be to close all the libraries and children’s centres, to privatise council services, and to completely axe funding for charities, the voluntary sector and cultural services.
At the same time the council is setting aside windfall pots of money for economic recovery and a £2million contingency fund.
But he added: “Hopefully you and the people of Milton Keynes know me well enough; if we needed a five per cent council tax rise and it was politically unpopular I would take a five per cent council tax rise and argue for it.”
Tory Cllr Allan Rankine (Bletchley Park) said: “When I read the risk assessments, adult social care is one of the highest risks to the budget.
“I’m struggling with the decision and the choice.”
Labour councillor Charlie Wilson-Marklew (Stony Stratford) said he had a “political objection” to the decision.
“My view is that we might be better taking a 5 per cent rise,” he said, adding that such a decision would give the council £2 million.
The council tax for April’s budget is due to be set at a meeting next month.
