Labour motion to freeze county council tax bills through energy windfall rejected

Councillors voted down a Labour opposition bid calling for Nottinghamshire County Council to freeze council tax next year and labelled the calls as "gimmicky".

The Labour Group on the Conservative-led authority submitted a motion to the most recent full council meeting calling for next year's bills to be frozen to support struggling households.

The calls mirror a national policy being pushed by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer promising tax precepts would be frozen under a future Labour Government.

The party says it would fund the freeze through a "proper windfall tax" on oil and gas companies making record profits during the cost of living crisis.

The Labour Group's motion, proposed during the full council meeting on Thursday (May 11), also called for local government to receive more long-term funding certainty.

Speaking in the debate, Cllr Michael Payne (Lab), who represents Arnold North, said: "If obsessing about a windfall tax on oil and gas companies is a badge of honour, then deal me in.

"BP has made £4bn in the first four months of 2023, Shell made the largest in their history last year and British Gas and Centrica tripled their profits.

"This is while the good people of Nottinghamshire are seeing their weekly shop go up, their council tax go up and their heating costs go up.

"I know which side of the argument I want to be on and the funding for the [national Labour policy] council tax freeze is quite clear.

"We'd raise £10bn from expanding the tax on people making profits off the war [in Ukraine] and we'd use £2.7bn of that to fund the council tax freeze."

Cllr Kate Foale, leader of the Labour Group, proposed the motion and added: "Local government provides a wide range of services people rely on.

"But we simply don't get enough funding to deliver that for them and have not for many years.

"Ever-rising council tax bills are making circumstances worse for people already struggling to make ends meet and the equality gap is rising.

"At a time when oil and gas companies are making enormous profits off the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine, it's the fair and right thing to do to ask the Government to step in and find a better solution."

However, the authority did not back the group's motion following an 85-minute debate in which rival parties criticised the Labour Group for its tax history when previously in office.

The group was also criticised for bringing forward the motion just months after not offering an alternative budget at the authority's February budget-setting meeting.

Cllr Bruce Laughton (Con), deputy leader of the council, said: "For the last 14 years, residents have been paying double the amount they should've been because past Labour administrations doubled it [between 2002 and 2009].

"I find this motion crass, it's politicking over something they have no intention of doing. It's a smoke screen, it's about sending a message to residents when actually, in practice, they do completely the opposite."

Cllr Steve Carr (Lib Dem), a member of the Independent Alliance, added: "Rising council tax is one of the biggest bones of contention for residents.

"Taking, for example, this year's rise in council tax, Nottinghamshire Council's rise hit the band D taxpayer with an extra £79 per year, but a council like Broxtowe implementing a similar percentage rise is £5.

"There's no doubt residents feel aggrieved at paying council tax to the council.

"But Nottinghamshire's Labour Group didn't even bother to propose a council tax freeze here in Nottinghamshire in February.

"You can't put a motion before this council without pointing out you failed to offer an alternative.

"This policy is a bit gimmicky, to be honest."

The motion was voted down with 17 votes for, 35 against and seven abstentions.