The Morecambe MP has asked Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to meet with him to discuss his concerns over the rise in council tax levied by the Town Council.
During Prime Minister’s questions, David Morris raised his concerns at Morecambe Town Council’s actions, and asked the Prime Minister to meet with him to ensure that parish councils cannot raise council tax by significant amounts in the future.
Speaking in the chamber, Mr Morris said: ‘’It’s very interesting that the Leader of the Opposition speaks about keeping council tax low, when the Labour Party voted to increase Morecambe Town Council from historically £200,000 to £2 million. So, on that basis I would like to meet with the Prime Minister to see where we can find Government time to cap parish councils from doing this sort of abhorrent behaviour."
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak replied: ‘’Mr Speaker My Hon Friend is right to highlight that council tax in labour areas is higher than Conservative areas, which is not right at a time when there are pressures on the cost of living.
‘’I look forward to meeting him to discuss his plans to keep British families' household bills as low as they can be.’’
Speaking following the question David Morris added: ‘’Labour, Lib Dems, and Independents all voted for this astronomical increase in council tax bills without any majority public support and it needs to be rectified.
‘’I will continue to campaign on this to ensure people in Morecambe are not being taken advantage of.’’
At last week’s local elections, the Morecambe Bay Independents became the largest group with control of the town council, winning 14 of the 26 seats. They were the only group not to vote for the tax rise.
Only six of 26 councillors who were on the town council at the time of the tax rise decision in February remain on the council following the elections. The rest either lost their seats (nine, including eight who voted in favour of the tax rise) or did not stand in the elections (11).
Morecambe Town Council election results can be found here.
The Conservatives did not field any candidates for any Morecambe Town Council seat.
Mr Morris has already led a parliamentary debate on the matter, following Morecambe Town Council's decision to raise its Council Tax precept by 231 per cent in 2023/24.
The town council will raise £1m from the tax hike hoping to kickstart a community project on the derelict former Frontierland theme park in Morecambe.
Mr Morris also used that debate to criticise the parish council for raising its annual staffing budget to £360,000 to fund 10 employees - the most in its history.
A spokesperson for the town council said the MP's comments about council officers were "wildly inaccurate", and wished to meet with him to ‘’clarify facts.’’
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