A Record of Action….A Promise of More!

• Liberal Democrats in Cornwall have kept your Council Tax £175 below the national average – the lowest of any comparable council - and will keep it that way.
• According to the Audit Commission, under Liberal Democrat leadership Cornwall County Council has had amongst the best financial management of any council in the country, and a triple A credit rating – the best score possible.
• Our drive for efficiency has led to savings of £20 million over the past two years which we have ploughed back into improving services – this is how we kept Council Tax £175 below the national average.
• Creating a single Council for Cornwall is saving over £70 million more over the next four years in reduced bureaucracy and over 200 fewer Councillors – that’s how we will cut your Council Tax in real terms over the next four years, without compromising on delivery of services.

The Lib Dem Guarantee

• We will again keep Cornwall’s Council tax below average and in addition we will cut your Council tax in real terms over the next four years.

• We will increase support for young people, the elderly, disabled people, and affordable homes whilst cutting Council Tax, by using the savings from creating the single Cornwall Council.

• We will freeze Councillors’ allowances - at a time when the economy is contracting and people are losing their jobs and savings, Councillors need to tighten their belts too.

• We will campaign for rapid changes by Government to bring Cornwall’s share of national funding up to the national average.

• We will campaign nationally to press the Government to abolish altogether the unfair Council Tax which hits pensioners and families on average Cornish incomes especially hard, and replace it with a fair system based on ability to pay.

Compare the difference!

• After 18 years of Conservative Government, Cornwall became officially designated one of the poorest places in the whole of the EU, with very high unemployment and very low wages.

• Nationally the average Council Tax in Labour and Conservative Councils is £1175. In Lib Dem led Cornwall we have kept the average bill to £1000, and still improved local services.

• In Cornwall, Conservative, Labour, Mebyon Kernow and Independent Councillors opposed plans to cut costs and strip out bureaucracy through a single council. One Cornwall Council saves tax payers over £70 million over the next four years in less bureaucracy. That means we can improve front line services, provide local services through One Stop Shops in every town and community networks responsible for services in every area – and we can cut your Council Tax as well.

• The Conservatives landed everyone with the unfair Council Tax, and Labour has done nothing to change it. With no link to ability to pay, pensioners and hard working families are hit by the same Council Tax bill as high paid executives and even the Prime Minister. Only the Liberal Democrats are committed to work nationally to abolish the Council Tax altogether.