At departmental question time for the Deparment for Communities and Local Governemnt, Martin asked the Secretary of State, Eric Pickles, how much funding his Department has made available to help freeze council tax.
Mr Pickles responded by stating that, "More than £800 million of funding is available for a council tax freeze in the next two years; the total amount of funding throughout this Parliament is up to £5.2 billion. That is worth £1,100 for the average household band D property and represents a cut in council tax of 10% in real terms."
In his follow-up question, Martin highlighted the differences in policy between both councils in his constituency:
Martin said, "Two councils serve my constituency. Conservative-controlled North Lincolnshire Council is attracting investment, opening new libraries and freezing council tax, whereas neighbouring Labour-controlled North East Lincolnshire Council is closing libraries, spending millions on a new swimming pool when the old one could be refurbished and is unable to resist over-development, particularly in the Humberston and New Waltham areas, because its local plan is out of date. On top of that, it is increasing council tax. I urge my right hon. Friend to maintain pressure on all authorities to keep tax down."
The full exchange can be found at: http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2014-03-03a.607.5&s=speaker%3A24814#g607.8