On Thursday David Morris MP presented a petition of Morecambe Residents to Parliament, to oppose the increase in Council tax by Morecambe Town Council.
Presenting the petition David said:
The petitioners of Morecambe, on behalf of 3,919 responses, which is over a quarter of the households of Morecambe, request the House to take into consideration their petition against Morecambe Town Council’s precept rise of 231% for 2023-24 to create, without a full referendum, a slush fund of £1 million, which has been put to one side. This amount should be returned by any means possible to the constituents of Morecambe, either in the form of a complete freeze in future council tax until it is paid back or by any other mechanism that this House can employ to meet that objective.
The following is the full text of the petition:
[The petition of residents of the United Kingdom,
Declares that the petitioners do not agree with the increase in the parish precept implemented by Morecambe Town Council.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to review the increase in the parish precept implemented by the Council and cap parish councils from being able to implement a large rise in Council Tax without a formal referendum in the future.
And the petitioners remain, etc.]
Speaking after the petition David Morris MP said:
‘Morecambe Town Council chose to increase Council tax without consulting people, this in my view was wrong and after a public outcry I chose to send a survey to every home in the Morecambe Town Council area to gage their views on the increase. I was astounded by the volume of responses, people are really angry that their bills have been hiked up without consultation. I hope the Town Council will listen to the views of the people in Morecambe and return the money they have taken off them.’
