"DECADE OF INCOMPETENCE" BY LABOUR COUNCIL LEADS TO £75M COUNCIL TAX HOLE

18.12.03

Liberal Democrat councillors have slammed Labour-run Haringey Council for a decade of incompetence after it was revealed that Haringey had failed to collect over £75 million of Council Tax between 1993 and 2003.

The Government published the figures after a parliamentary question was asked by Lib Dem mayoral candidate, Simon Hughes, on the amount of Council Tax uncollected by London boroughs over the last ten years.

Haringey was third worst out of the 33 London boroughs in the list. Lib Dem Finance Spokesperson Jonathan Bloch is concerned by these figures and has demanded that more emphasis is put on tax collection rather than on wasting money on excessive public relations, spin doctors and glossy brochures.

Cllr Jonathan Bloch comments: "Haringey has found itself yet again at the wrong end of the league table. Its failure to deal adequately with the problem of uncollected Council Tax has had a huge negative impact on the Council's budget over the last ten years.

"I hope that these figures once again serve as a reminder to the Council that spending millions on glossy self promoting publications and large PR budgets and projects such as 'Better Haringey' are secondary to collecting taxes efficiently in the borough - that would really make for a better Haringey."

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