In the elections that took place a week ago the most remarkable result was in Southampton. The Conservatives gained control of the Council despite the pundits having explained this would be a virtually impossible feat given that only a third of the seats were up for election.
If anyone from Southampton happens to be reading this I would be interested to hear what happened. Here is my understanding. In February there was a minority Conservative administration. They proposed a budget for this year with a 2.99% Council tax increase but with a the introduction of a 10% discount for pensioners. I don't know how many pensioners there are in Southampton but I suspect that it will have equated to a reduction in Council Tax overall. That would have made it the only Council in the country to have cut the Council Tax - apart from, er, oh yes, Hammersmith and Fulham. There was also the interesting idea of scrapping Council Tax for Special Constables as an incentive to people to serve in that capacity.
To pay for it all they cut back on posts at the Town Hall and altogether they found efficiency savings of over £8 million.
Labour and the Lib Dems weren't having it. They ousted the minority Tory administration in a sort of coup. A week ago the voters of Southampton delivered their verdict. I trust they will now enjoy reductions in the Council Tax bills that hitherto only those of Hammersmith and Fulham have seen.
