Examination of Witnesses (Questions 380-388)
MR ALBERT
VENISON, MS
CHRISTINE MELSOM,
MR BRIAN
JAYE, MR
PETER WEBB
AND MR
MICHAEL SCHOFIELD
11 MAY 2004
Q380 Chairman: You are obviously arguing
that you want changes very quickly.
Ms Melsom: Yes.
Q381 Chairman: But it is very unlikely
that legislation can get through that quickly. What about the
revaluation in 2007? You obviously do not want the revaluation
but if you have to have a revaluation do you want extra bands
put into it or do you want the bands to stay as they are?
Mr Jaye: As far as Dorset is concerned,
having spoken to the leader of Dorset County Council last evening,
if you want to increase the bands, provided the equalisation fund
remains the same, that is okay, but what happens with the banding
in the north west of England if that does not go up the same two
bands? It will mean horrendous cost to the council taxpayer in
Dorset. What you all overlook, all politicians, whether you be
Liberal Democrats, Conservatives, Labour, Green Party, is the
hardship you are all causing with this council tax. I come from
Dorset. Within Dorset, I have pensioners of 70, 72, even as old
as 75 returning to work because they are so proud that they do
not want to claim this fictitious, unworthy council tax benefit.
Have any of you sat down and looked at a council tax form for
benefit? It is 22 pages.
Q382 Chairman: Let us assume that it
was reduced in length so it was a much shorter form, much more
like income tax. Would people be happy to fill it in?
Mr Jaye: No.
Ms Melsom: No.
Q383 Chairman: People are prepared to
fill in forms for income tax but they are not prepared to fill
in forms to reduce the amount they pay.
Ms Melsom: What we must remember
with a lot of very elderly people especially is that very few
of them do fill in those forms. When it comes to the council tax
benefit form, somebody else invariably has to fill it in for them.
A lot of elderly people resent that intrusion.
Q384 Chairman: Yes, but if we were moving
from the council tax to a system of extra being paid on income
tax, there would be a logic, would there not, in the levels at
which people had to start paying the income tax being lowered
so that some of those people who were now exempt would make some
contribution, would they not?
Ms Melsom: It would be very few.
Q385 Mr O'Brien: You refer to a fair
taxing system and in your document you advise how that would come
about, by raising certain bands of income tax. Nowhere in the
document do you refer to the contribution made by business or
industry. Why is that?
Mr Schofield: Business and industry
use the services, just like every council tax payer.
Q386 Mr O'Brien: Why are you saying that
the only people who should meet this cost are the individual earners
and nowhere in the document do you refer to business or industry
making a contribution?
Mr Schofield: We are just ordinary
citizens. We are not in business.
Q387 Mr O'Brien: But you want to change
the system.
Mr Schofield: Yes, but we defer
to the CBI and people who are more—
Mr Webb: Business tax is just
another tax.
Mr O'Brien: Should it not play a part
in funding local services?
Q388 Chairman: As far as local services
are concerned, you would keep their system from business as it
is now. Is that right?
Ms Melsom: Yes.
Chairman: On that note, can I thank you
very much indeed for your evidence?
| 
