Lib Dems reveal Council Tax has doubled since Labour came to power in '97

7.01.00pm GMT Sun 3rd Feb 2008

We all know what in iniquitous tax the Council Tax is. Introduced by the Tories, it has been kept by Labour - and the cost has doubled in the last decade under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The average council tax per dwelling in England and Wales has increased by 96% since 1997/8, from £554 to over £1000 in 2007/08. The Liberal Democrats would, as I'm sure you know, scrap council tax and replace it with a fairer tax based on the ability to pay.

Oxford's council tax is also ridiculously high, the legacy of two decades of Labour incompetence. When the Lib Dems took over running the city council in 2006, Oxford had the 10th highest Council Tax in the country. In my year in charge of the finances, we began to reverse the trend, keeping the Council Tax increase beow inflation (just 2%), and cutting £4m of spending without affecting key front-line services. I hope the Lib Dems will continue to be able to keep Council Tax down in the years to come as well.

One thing's for sure: if Labour gets back into power, we can expect to see them revert to their tired old ways, wasting money and taxing the people of Oxford more than necessary to hide their inefficiency.

But the Lib Dem job has undoubtedly been made harder by the recent announcement of the local government finance settlement which will see Oxford's grant squeezed by the Labour government.

As the Lib Dems' shadow Local Government Secretary, Julia Goldsworthy, has said:

"Council tax bills have doubled since Labour came to power, leaving millions of people struggling to foot the bill. Some of the poorest families are paying 10% of their income in council tax alone.

"This year's grant settlement will only make matters worse. The Government's failure to properly fund local authorities will mean large increases in council tax bills and cuts to valuable services relied upon by those vulnerable people most in need."