CAMPAIGNERS staged a rally to call on councillors to put hard-hit families and unemployed people first.
And while many councillors agreed with the protesters’ concerns, they said there is little they can do about Government-led changes.
Around 30 people protested outside Huddersfield Town Hall ahead of last night’s full council meeting, opposing several Government-led welfare reforms.
Members of the Huddersfield Anarchists League (HAL), the Socialists Union and others are urging Kirklees to oppose the so-called bedroom tax and to call on the council to re-think making everyone, including unemployed households, pay some council tax contribution. From April around 10,000 Kirklees households will pay some council tax for the first time.
After yesterday’s Budget, Kirklees leader Clr Mehboob Khan revealed that the loss of Government grant per head in the borough is £70, compared to £46 per head in David Cameron’s West Oxfordshire constituency and cuts of £11 per head in Education Secretary Michael Gove’s constituency.
Clr David Sheard told HAL members: “I agree with you but we’ve cuts of £3.2m in our council tax funding to find and that would have to come from someone.”
Clr Sheard, a Cabinet member for Resources, said they could not promise they would not take legal action against anyone who fails to pay their bills because “we’ve a duty to collect”, but he added: “Obviously we have got to take into account people’s circumstances and look at their position.”
The impact of George Osborne’s budget proposals were discussed and Kirklees Director of Resources David Smith said a quick review would be complete by June 26 which would be alongside the council’s own Comprehensive Spending Review, due to be published in autumn.
Mr Smith said the Budget showed a 10% fall in local Government finance between 2013/14 and the following financial year on a national level.
He said there was positive news about housing with support for help to buy, right to buy and other schemes to help people buy homes.
