Proposals for massive increases in Council Tax
I don't think this issue has been raised here before (if I've missed it, my apologies). The 100% increase for Wandsworth is very worrying, and now Hammersmith and Fulham are proposing a 150% hike. Increases on this scale are of great concern, and I can't help thinking that there is a fairer way of implementing them (I'm considering this quite apart from the decision of the government that has led to these increases as that's a wider issue).In the 1970s it became clear that the distribution of spending in the NHS was wildly out of kilter, which led to the setting up of the Resource Allocation Working Party (RAWP) in 1975. RAWP confirmed the disparities and suggested a new formula, using (amongst other things) the use of standardised mortality rates as a proxy measure. Obviously the regions gaining on the formula were pleased and those losing, less so, and to alleviate the possible changes it was agreed that to go immediately to the new formula would be a disaster. So, as I recall (I was working at DHSS at the time, though not on health spending) it was agreed that the formula would be introduced gradually, with well-provided regions’ spending remaining static and extra resources over time allocated to the less well-provided, which helped to reduce the pain of the reallocation.Sorry about the history lesson, but it is useful in suggesting that the pain of changes in council tax would be considerably reduced by a similar process to that used in implementing RAWP rather than doing it in one go.
Richard Carter ● 32d20 Comments ● 17d