KEETCH CALLS ON COUNCIL TO LOOK INTO ARMED FORCES COUNCIL TAX

10.00.00am GMT Fri 26th Mar 2004

Hereford MP Paul Keetch has used a House of Commons debate to call on Herefordshire Council to look into the possibility of offering Armed Forces personnel on deployment a reduction in their council tax.

Speaking in a debate on Reserve Forces on Wednesday 24th March, Mr Keetch, who is also the Liberal Democrat Shadow Defence Secretary, said:

"I pay tribute in particular to the members of the Hereford reconnaissance troop of light infantry TA…Those young men brought an issue to my attention that the hon. Gentleman did not raise: council tax rebates. What are the Minister's thoughts on that? Members of our reserve forces are deployed for months on end-six months is not unusual. As the hon. Gentleman said, they may well be redeployed relatively quickly after returning. It is extremely unfair of local authorities to continue to charge them a full council tax rate.

"I understand that some councils would have a problem with that because of the large number of people deployed, and I am always careful about making any spending commitment. However, relatively few people from Herefordshire were deployed, and I would have thought that my local council could have made an exception, as some other councils do. The Government may want to consider whether a more nationally unified form of support could be given."

Mr Keetch has raised the issue with the Ministry of Defence before and was told in March last year that "council tax rebates are a matter for local authorities".

Commenting after the debate Mr Keetch said: "The rules on this are fairly complex, but I would ask the Council to look into this matter. Our Armed Forces put their lives on the line for our nation, and it is within the power of the local council to take some sort of discretionary action.

"If a member of the Territorial Army, for example, is sent on deployment for 6 months, then they are still considered liable for full council tax on their property, even though they are away. This can leave their families in a very difficult position. The Council should look into this issue and see if there is some sort of action that they could take to help the brave men and women who do so much to defend our country.