"Incompetent Bradford Council gets the green light for highest council tax increase in England"

In an exclusive guest post, Rebecca Poulsen, Conservative Group Leader on Bradford Council, slams the proposed price hike.

Credit: Bradford Council

Just over two weeks ago, residents across the Bradford District were shocked to discover the leader of Bradford Council had written to the government asking for permission to increase council tax by up to 14.99%.

No one knew this was being considered, including opposition councillors. The deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, has now given permission for a 9.99% increase – the highest percentage increase in the country. This will hit families right across the Bradford District.

Everyone I speak to is furious about the incompetence of Bradford Council and that residents now face a huge council tax increase to pay for increasingly poor services and a litany of financial disasters. There is to be no referendum or consultation with residents over the huge council tax rise and it will now be up to the 90 Bradford District councillors to vote in March on whether to accept this increase or reject it.

In Ilkley there is huge frustration and anger that Bradford Council don’t listen to local people. With the Golden Butts Household Waste Recycling Centre now closed and the land being sold off, speed bumps and huge 20mph schemes going ahead – which the majority of Ilkley voted against in a parish poll – this is just another example of residents being ignored.

The leader of the council says it is only £2 or £3 a week extra for most people to pay – but across Ilkley residents will be paying hundreds of pounds extra in council tax for fewer and fewer services. This is not a one-off rise either. It becomes “structural”. Once this increase is agreed upon, it will become consolidated into an increase baseline upon which subsequent yearly council tax increases will automatically be built on.

I’m pretty sure the council won’t be cutting your council tax next year. If this 9.99% increase is imposed, it may be the case that Bradford’s 2025/26 basic council tax will still be roughly 4% below the national average for metropolitan districts, but on “affordability” criteria, we have to be aware that average earnings in Bradford are nearly 10% below the national figure.

Bradford Council has faced increased demands for some services like other councils across the country, but many decisions made by the council have led to the spiralling financial position we see today.

In 2023 a children’s trust was set up to run children’s services after the government had to step in after years of failing leadership, inadequate Ofsted inspections and children being put at risk. Setting up a separate trust has cost hundreds of millions of pounds with the council funding most of it from their reserves. If they had listened to earlier calls to invest in early help, it is unlikely we would be in such a bad position today.

In 2021, the council’s finance officers said the finances were in strong financial health. However, all the reserves have been used up, and the council is now having to borrow funds, sell off assets and make this last-minute decision to impose a Council Tax increase of 9.99%, the highest percentage increase in the country.

Despite using up reserves on the setting up of a children’s trust, the leadership of the council have continued to throw money at projects – predominately in the city centre – that are over budget. Take Bradford Live. It still has no operator since NEC Group pulled out late last year. Decisions over Bradford Live have been hidden in so much secrecy and confidentiality that we don’t know when it will open and if it will be open during City of Culture. It has cost the taxpayer £50 million and it sits there still closed.

We also have Darley Street Market over budget and delayed many, many times, yet existing markets in places like Keighley are in desperate need of improvements and support. Elsewhere, One City Park, the office block the council built as their flagship regeneration project, is only half let by a company literally moving from across the road.

The Council also has over £30 million of unpaid council tax. Ilkley is the second lowest area for unpaid council tax, with the top places all being in the city centre. This means Ilkley residents who do the right thing and pay their council tax are subsidising services in the centre of Bradford while having services cut in Ilkley. It is not fair and not equitable.

The leadership of the council are taking no responsibility for any of their decisions. They just blame everyone else and don’t listen. Councillors are here to serve their communities and represent the residents who have elected them to represent them. We now have until 6 March, when all Bradford District councillors will vote on the budget and council tax increase, to make sure residents contact their councillors and make their views known.