The Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, Saddleworth South Councillor John McCann, will be proposing at the next full meeting of Oldham Council (Wednesday 28 March) that the Council back calls for the introduction of Land Value Taxation to help pay for public services.

Councillor McCann said: “Land Value Taxes work successfully in over 30 countries across the world.  Landowners are charged an amount every year based upon the rental value of their land.  This amount is based upon the unimproved value of the land, in other words the amount is not increased if the land is developed upon with buildings or other infrastructure.  Two advantages to a Land Value Tax is that it is very cheap to collect and very difficult to evade.”

“Land Value Taxes can be revenue-neutral, by this we mean that they could replace other local taxation raised through the Council Tax and Business Rates,” stated Councillor McCann.  “This would reduce the financial burden placed upon our residents, particularly our lower-income households, and our small businesses in paying for Council services.”

Shaw Liberal Democrat Councillor Chris Gloster is seconding the motion. Commenting he said: “A Land Value Tax also has other benefits.  It would discourage land-banking, where owners simply hold onto vacant land in the hope that they can make more profit in the future if its value rises, and instead encourages them to develop them with homes or businesses more quickly, once planning permission is granted, to generate an income to help pay the charge.  This would provide more homes and jobs for people in our Borough, and, as many of these homes would be on brown-field sites, it will give us a greater chance to spare more of our precious and irreplaceable Green Belt from unwanted development.”

Council 28 March 2018 – Notice of Opposition Business –

Motion 2 – Land Value Taxation

This Council believes that Land Value Taxation (LVT) offers a credible means for local authorities to raise public revenue to fund local public services by making an annual charge upon landowners, based on the rental value of their land. This is typically levied against the unimproved value of that land, not taking into account any buildings, services or on-site infrastructure.

Council notes that:

• LVT could be revenue-neutral; that is the revenue raised could replace taxation levied through Council Tax and Business Rates. This would lift some of the burden of meeting the cost of Council services from our Borough’s low-income households and small businesses;
• LVT would encourage owners of vacant sites, particularly brown-field sites, to develop them for business or residential use more quickly, where planning permission has been granted, so as to generate an income rather than paying an annual charge on the unused land;
• This would discourage developers from land-banking and lead to more house building and the creation of more businesses and jobs, meaning a more vibrant Borough and less pressure to build new homes on our irreplaceable green belt;
• LVT is cheap to collect and very difficult to evade.

Council further notes that:

• Some form of LVT is already successfully in operation in over 30 countries (including Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and several US states);
• The International Monetary Fund, the Institute of Economic Affairs and the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development have all come out in favour of the tax;
• A Private Members Bill was introduced in Parliament by Caroline Lucas MP supporting LVT, and the proposal has cross-party support in principle;
• The Scottish and Welsh Governments are currently investigating the options for implementing such a tax;
• The Parliamentary Communities and Local Government Committee have just conducted an enquiry into the efficacy of various taxation methods to ‘capture’ increases in land value;
• The Government has appointed a panel of experts, chaired by Sir Oliver Letwin, charged with carrying out a review to ‘explain the gap between the number of planning permissions being granted (for houses) against those built in areas of high-demand.’

Thursday March – 8, 15, 22, 29

All at Shaw Lifelong Learning Centre, High Street, Shaw

From 7:30pm to 8:30pm

Councillors: Gloster, Sykes, Williamson, Murphy and Turner

NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY

Liberal Democrat Councillor John McCann was surprised to find that he was the only Councillor from the three in Saddleworth South Ward on Oldham Council who bothered to turn up for Wednesday’s important Budget Council meeting (28 February 2018).

He explained: “I was disappointed that Conservative Councillors, John Hudson and Graham Sheldon, sent their apologies and failed to show.  I know it was not good weather wise, but I felt it was my duty to make it, whatever the weather.  I think the public expect us to be there and I have to travel a similar distance to get here as they do.  If anything they could be closer to the civic centre than I am!”

Councillor John McCann proposed a Liberal Democrat amendment to the Labour budget that would have cut waste and bureaucracy to find over £400,000 in extra money for investments in highways improvements, youth services, tackling fly tipping and installing alley gates and CCTV cameras to help make streets across the Borough cleaner and safer.  This includes in Saddleworth South, regrettably, the Labour Administration, which runs the Council, voted against it and the proposal was defeated.

“But at least they turned up!” stated Councillor McCann.  “The Conservatives the minority opposition group never propose any amendments to the Budget, and they usually vote with Labour.  But, just not turning up at the most important meeting of the year beggar’s belief.”

“It would however have been some consolation if they had been there to support the common-sense and costed proposals of the Liberal Democrat Group that would have helped the residents of Saddleworth South,” he added.

Mr Mayor, I rise tonight to second the amendment to the Administration’s Budget proposed by the Opposition Liberal Democrat Group.

Local government continues to be butchered disproportionately – hit by the Conservative Government’s continued adherence to so called austerity.

The Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement announced in December did not bring us an early Christmas present; it simply represented yet more pain for us to absorb.

The Liberal Democrat Group recognises that in our financial situation the Labour Administration has once more had to reduce overall spending whilst, regrettably, increasing Council Tax by a further 3.99%.

Through necessity, we will support the rise to pay for improvements to adult social care and services.

This is albeit reluctantly because we know that many residents in our Borough have not seen any increase in their take home pay for several years whilst facing a constant rise in the cost of basic necessities.

I am only glad that there has been cross-party support to maintain the Council Tax Support Scheme at its current level to help those on the lowest incomes to reduce their bills.

I now want to turn to our amendment.

Councillor McCann in his speech highlighted the additional savings in Civic Centre bureaucracy that the Liberal Democrat team has identified.

I want now to explain how we intend to invest those savings to improve highways; tackle fly tipping; and address anti-social behaviour and crime; to make our Borough’s streets better and cleaner; and our communities safer.

We are proposing to spend £400,000 of our savings this year to  invest more in our highways; to restore the cuts to our youth services; to tackle the fly-tipping that blights our communities; and for public safety measures, such as alley-gating and CCTV schemes.

I will look at each of these proposals in turn.

The Labour Administration recently announced a £6.2 million investment in road improvements, including proposing an investment of £5 million this year.

Although welcome, this is not the first time we have heard such a proposal in this chamber.

We made the same proposal in each of our last two Budget Amendments.  These were investments that Labour and others failed to support. 

If it is suddenly right to do this now, why was it not right to do it then, especially as in the last two years our road surfaces have been steadily getting worse?

But in 2018 the Liberal Democrats are more ambitious.

In our proposals, we can afford to fund AN ADDITIONAL £5 million in highway and infrastructure improvements in 2019/20.

Thus sustaining the level of investment for one more year making more of our roads smoother and safer. 

So our proposals represent welcome news indeed to our motorists, users of public transport and pedestrians.

The Liberal Democrats are concerned that the £100,000 reduction in funding for our youth services will lead to more instances of anti-social behaviour and increased pressure on our already over-burdened Children’s Social Care Services and on the Police.

A false economy if there ever was one.

Through our savings, we would find the money to restore the funding.

We also want a proper Service Level Agreement to be drawn up to ensure that some funding is focused on providing youth services within EACH of the Districts, not simply at Mahdlo, which is a town centre venue that many young people are unable, or reluctant, to travel too.

The Liberal Democrats want to see some of our youth services delivered locally as they should be.

We also want to make £650,000 available over two years to tackle environmental crime and for public safety.

• Money to apprehend the cowboy fly-tippers who criminally dump bulky waste items by the side of our highways and in our beauty spots. 

• Money to establish a fund to support applications for alley-gates and CCTV cameras to reduce burglaries and street crime. 

• Money to help people to feel safe in their homes and communities.  

So, Mr Mayor, in summary our proposals will deliver:

• Better roads
• Better and more local youth services
• Less anti-social behaviour and safer communities
• Less fly-tipping and cleaner streets

All priorities for the residents of Oldham Borough and all this for less than half a million pounds!

Mr Mayor, these investments will have a real positive impact on the quality of life of our residents.

This is about getting the basics right and spending less on back-office bureaucracy in the Civic Centre!

I do hope that tonight Councillors from all sides of the chamber will choose to support this very sensible amendment.