At today’s meeting of Cornwall Council, MK councillors voted against the budget put forward by the Conservative administration, which increased council tax by the maximum amount of 5%.

Speaking on behalf of the Mebyon Kernow / Green Party Group, Cllr Andrew Long told the meeting that “local government is in a parlous state” and is “greatly underfunded, having suffered a decade of savage cuts.”

He pointed out that core government funding for local councils fell from £41 billion to £26 billion between 2010 and 2020, while Cllr Tim Oliver the present Chairman of the County Councils Network has warned that “inflation and demand is set to add £3.5 billion” to the costs of principal authorities across the UK.

Cllr Long said: “Local government continues not to be a priority for central government, which is failing in its duty to repair the damage caused by their funding choices during the so-called austerity years.

“Instead of significantly increasing grants from central government, the UK Government is putting pressure on this unitary authority and other councils to raise funding for core services through year-on-year council tax increases.

“This is all so wrong, as council tax is a most insidious form of taxation, which impacts most on the less-well-off.

“We all find it especially disturbing that local government is not a higher priority for the UK state – especially with its responsibilities for social care and so much more – and we find it shameful that it is not doing more to repair the damage caused by the adverse funding choices made by them since 2010.

“There is also little acknowledgment of the real-terms reduction in the value of the finances available to councils.

“We will be voting against this budget and we will continue to campaign for fairer funding for public services in Cornwall and proper reforms to how local government is funded.”