Eric Pickles hopes to depoliticise funding of town halls

We recently noted Philip Dunne MP's findings that rural councils - largely Tory - were losing out to urban councils - more likely to be Labour.

Eric Pickles MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Local Government, signals that the Conservatives want to stop the possibility of any future manipulation:

“We are toying with the idea of going towards an Australian system of grant distribution – to take it out of the hands of the politicians so that we no longer have the capacity to punish our enemies and reward our friends.”

Mr Pickles gave the hint within the main story in The Sunday Express: The Great Council Tax Giveaway.

The story suggests that the Conservatives want to give council tax refunds of up to £1,400 to 400,000 households that have been allocated to the wrong council tax bands.  Misallocations are obviously injustices that need to be corrected but lower council tax for some will also mean more pain for others.