Council tax in Merton could be frozen by Labour for the fourth year in a row if a vote is passed next week.

Not to be outdone opposition councillors have stated they would go a step further.

The Conservative group has stated it would slash council tax and intends to put an amendment forward against the freeze at the Merton full council meeting on Wednesday, March 5.

Conservative leader Oonagh Moulton said: "They [Labour] should be cutting tax.

"They are celebrating the fact that they have frozen tax but it was frozen at a high level.

"From 1998 to 2006 it went up by 55 per cent - two and a half times the rate of inflation."

Coun Moulton added: "We think we can take control in a few months time.

"Other minority parties are not in the position to do that, they can come forward with figures but it will be false promises."

At a meeting last week Cabinet agreed to freeze council tax at the same rate as last year.

The Cabinet agreement still needs to be ratified at full council but a party spokesperson said all 28 Labour councillors have pledged to vote in favour of it.

The Labour spokesperson said: "Merton’s Labour administration has been able to freeze council tax due to being careful with money and taking a long term view of the council’s finances.

"This has allowed us to continue to protect services such as the weekly street sweep, children's centres, parks and the weekly refuse collection."

Leader of Labour controlled Merton Council, Councillor Stephen Alambritis, said: "When the Conservatives were last in charge they hiked up council tax by almost £100.

"In contrast, Labour’s good financial management means that we have been able to give residents a council tax freeze four years in a row.

"We know times are hard for many of our residents and we hope this will go some way to helping people keep to their budget."


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