Ealing council tax payers to be given £50
More than 122,000 taxpayers will be given £50 after councillors agreed a £6million plus package to fight the recession.
The one-off ‘Value for Money Premium’ is the biggest scheme of its type ever run by a council in the country.
The plans were approved despite a stormy council meeting last night (Tuesday) in which the entire Labour group walked out.
They had voted in favour of the £50 but were angry about the way the meeting was being run claiming debates were being unfairly cut-short.
The Liberal Democrats voted against the cashback arguing that the money should be spent on regeneration programmes.
Payments will be made by 1 December to give people extra cash in time for the Christmas shopping period and residents will be encouraged to spend the one-off windfall payment in the borough so that local businesses benefit too.
To encourage local spending the council will give people free parking in all of its car parks each weekend throughout December. In addition, the council is calling on local businesses to give residents special discounts to boost trade.
July 15, 2009
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