Nobody in Leeds is asking to pay extra council tax

Conservative councillor Matthew Robinson submitted a written question asking whether any member of the public had offered to cough up extra cash to help the council’s shrinking coffers.

It read: “Can the executive member for resources and sustainability confirm if any member of the public offered to pay more council tax than they were billed for in the last financial year, and can he confirm how members of the public can volunteer to pay more than they owe if they choose?”

A written response from councillor James Lewis, the authority’s executive member for resources and sustainability, was sent to Coun Robinson this week.

It read: “We are not aware of any member of the public offering to pay more council tax than they were billed in the last financial year.

“If members of the public did wish to make a voluntary contribution over and above their council tax, then they would need to make that clear when making their payment to the Council so that this could be accounted for accordingly.”

In the current 2018/19 financial year, Leeds City Council’s Government grant was cut by 28 per cent to £18.5m, adding to the £239m already slashed since 2010.

Coun Robinson’s question had originally been due to be asked during last week’s full Leeds City Council meeting but, with question time having a 30-minute limit, it was not asked in time.