Government figures praise Cotswold District Council for tax drop (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Government figures Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles MP and local government minister Brandon Lewis MP praise Cotswold District Council for tax drop

3:00pm Friday 1st March 2013 in News By Ian Craig

SENIOR government figures have praised Cotswold District Council for cutting council tax by more than anywhere else in the country.

On Tuesday the council voted unanimously to reduce rates by five per cent in the coming financial year.

Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles MP tweeted on Thursday: “Congratulations to Cotswold Council for cutting council tax by five per cent, protecting the disabled and helping home buyers.”

Local government minister Brandon Lewis MP also commended the council on a visit to the district yesterday.

Earlier in the day Mr Lewis appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme and cited CDC as an example of how local authorities can keep down council tax without cutting residents’ services by sharing resources with other organisations.

Council leader Cllr Lynden Stowe (Con, Campden-Vale) said he was delighted by the praise.

“It’s not every day that a relatively small local authority can say that it is at the top of the tree and I am very proud of everyone at Cotswold who has helped us to achieve the biggest cut in council tax in the country this year,” he said.