- Is it Fair?
Isitfair? was founded in 2002 by Christine and John Melsom of Headley, Hampshire. They were outraged by the proposed huge increase in Council Tax due for April 2003 (12.9% on average) and decided to launch a campaign to protest about this. The spirit of the campaign caught the public mood and it quickly grew to become a nationwide campaign. The campaign is truly 'grass roots' and the only one of its type in the UK. It is non party political and is entirely funded through voluntary donations of time, resources and money.
A nationwide petition was launched and over 100,000 council tax payers signed this. In October 2004, the petition was handed in to the then Prime Minister Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street. A march was held in London followed by a rally in Trafalgar Square that attracted nationwide media coverage.
Since that time, efforts have continued with all three main political parties to bring about a change to the current system. During the latest Government inquiry (the Lyons Inquiry), Isitfair made submissions and met with Sir Michael to press home our case for reform.
To date, the Government has steadfastly refused to acknowledge the gross unfairness of the current system and have continued to pile year on year above inflation increases onto the Council Tax payer, while cynically always blaming the Local Authorities for these increases. This is a nonsense as Central Government dictates the vast majority of all Local Authorities expenditure, while not necessarily supplying sufficient Central Grants to cover this. Local Democracy is almost entirely an agent of Central Government with very little of their budgets being able to be spent on locally decided priorities.
The problem of Council Tax is now so big that any reform will have a significant impact, and there does seem to be a lack of leadership to address this. One thing is certain though and that is that Central Government consider annual 5% increases acceptable, and have no plans to address this. With a revaluation possible in the next Parliamentary term, everyone who is liable to pay Council Tax should be very wary of this. Despite all public denial, the VOA is collecting information about all properties, and inspectors do have the 'right' to enter your property to inspect it. This information will be used to increase the amount of tax you will pay. Just look at what happened in Wales a couple of years ago when they were revalued. Some properties jumped five bands!
Isitfair has always wanted Council Tax to be reformed and based on ability to pay, not the value of the property your live in, or whether you have a nice view outside your bedroom window. Your home does not pay Council Tax - you do out of earned income that has already been taxed, or savings income which has also been taxed.
To help the campaign, the most effective action you can take is to lobby your MP. Without continued public pressure, the Government will continue tax us, causing extreme hardship for many. A repeat of the Poll Tax riots of the early '90s is not unimaginable.
External links
* [http://www.isitfair.co.uk/ www.isitfair.co.uk]
*mailto:c@isitfair.co.uk
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