Helen Jones
Main Page: Helen Jones (Labour - Warrington North)
Mr Pickles
I certainly join my hon. Friend in urging councils to show restraint in spending. It is ironic to see the contrast between the two authorities—one clearly has the electorate’s wishes on its side, while the other wishes to punish the electorate.
Helen Jones (Warrington North) (Lab)
Why does the Secretary of State keep claiming that he is freezing council tax? His actions actually increased it for 700,000 of the poorest working families in this country because of his changes to council tax benefit. Will he now accept that the 10% cut that he imposed hit councils with the biggest number of claimants hardest and made it much more difficult for them to mitigate the effects of the cuts?
Mr Pickles
We localised council tax support, which had continued to grow under Labour. If the hon. Lady is making a commitment to repay that money and put it back, that is interesting. It was costing taxpayers £4 billion a year. It is important that the most vulnerable are protected and councils have the ability to keep the savings they want and invest them in the community. I urge the hon. Lady to give her own council a talking to and to get it sorted out.