Sparse pointed to the "higher cost" of delivering rural services

Lobby group Sparse said spending per head in its 50 member councils was 90% of the English average, while council taxes were 2.7% above average.

But in inner London, it said, spending was 40% above average, while council taxes were just 82-86% of the average.

Sparse is submitting the report to an independent inquiry into tax reform.

Sparse chairman Graham Biggs said: "It would be fair if we were getting a lower level of service and paying less for it but we're paying more. We get a double whammy and it's just not fair."

Sparse, which stands for the Sparsity Partnership for Authorities delivering Rural Services, entitled its report The Rural Council Tax Gap.

Elderly people are increasing in number in areas like Lincolnshire that are very popular for retirement Sparse Counting the cost of country life

Its members are among England's most rural local authorities.

The difference between their council tax levels and those of city authorities pointed to "plain fiscal unfairness", Sparse said.

Sir Michael Lyons, the director of the University of Birmingham's Institute of Local Government Studies, is heading the government-ordered inquiry into tax reform.

The inquiry follows the release of the government's Balance of Funding Review last month.

Councillor Steven Pugsley, co-chairman of Sparse, said: 'We are calling on ministers to close the widening council tax gap between city areas and the countryside - as things stand, we are confronted by plain fiscal unfairness."

The government's rural strategy is severely undermined by the way in which country dwellers have to pay more to get fewer services Cllr Steven Pugsley Sparse

The way the government grant was distributed allowed urban councils to spend more than those in rural areas but to charge less in council tax, he said.

"The whole of the government's rural strategy is severely undermined by the way in which country dwellers have to pay more to get fewer services."

Cllr Pugsley said: "The report notes that the grant system fails to reflect properly the effects of rural deprivation and population dispersal on the cost of providing services to far-flung rural communities."

Any changes to the council tax system, such as the introduction of new bands, should not be allowed to worsen the "already ill-favoured" position of rural areas, he said.

"Now is the time for the government to adjust the system better to reflect the higher costs associated with providing local services to country communities."

Your comments:.

We live in a small group of houses 3 miles from the nearest town. We have our dustbin emptied weekly and get a fortnightly visit from a mobile library. We have no mains water, gas or sewerage. The police come promptly when we are burgled but never catch the thieves. If the road is snowed in it is cleared by the local farmer so that the milk tanker can get in to collect his milk.

As old age pensioners we are entitled to a bus pass but the nearest bus is half an hour drive away so that isn't of much benefit. We have a similar drive to use any of the other council provided facilities such as swimming pools, sports centres, museums etc. For this we pay the same rates as all of the other residents of the borough in the same council tax band. Fair? I think not.
Richard Hall, Tyrley, Newcastle under Lyme, UK

Living in the country is a luxury but is increasingly difficult to afford Ian Davis, Cole Green, Herts, UK

To James in High Wycombe, Tim in London and other urban respondents I suggest that they also consider the average wages "enjoyed" by those of us in the rural areas. There is more work with higher pay in the cities, at least in the south, which makes the lower council tax bills even less equitable to us in rural areas. I am more than willing to pay for services I receive but when I called 999 recently regarding theft and vandalism it took the police hours to arrive. Our services are dire but our bills spiral up. Living in the country is a luxury but is increasingly difficult to afford! By the way how did Westminister Council manage to set a ZERO council tax rate for the first 2 years?
Ian Davis, Cole Green, Herts, UK

I pay the best part of �2k per year to live in rural Worcestershire. For this, the majority is spent on education - which I don't use as I choose to send my kids privately (so that they will at least get an education), policing that appears to take the form of seeking local involvement and then doing absolutely nothing when issues do arise, I can't remember ever seeing a fire engine in the village and fortunately have never needed the ambulance service or the benefits of the social security system.

The rural road system has just about collapsed with pot holes all over the place. We can own up to one street light in the village although its position on a rural road about two miles from anywhere is slightly strange. All in all, the charges are obscene, the services paltry and poorly delivered and it appears, at least to me, that most of the money goes towards feeding an enormous bureaucracy that is of little benefit to anyone. Why can't we just pay for the services that we want to use at a commercial rate instead of funding red tape wastage.
Ian, Bishampton, UK

I live in a rural Surrey village and like many others pay �1500 p.a. to have my bin emptied as we do not receive other community facilities such as Street lighting, libraries, bus services etc that the town dwellers enjoy. What is more annoying is that my council tax charge has increased two years running by double figure percentages as a direct result of central Government reducing grants in my area for the benefit of councils in the North of England (the homeland of Labour support?)
Phil, Ockley UK

Our nearest permanently manned police station is over 20 miles away: two others six miles away and eight miles away have closed. Two others both eight miles away, one in a city, the other a busy market town, are not permanently manned. We do not have a bus service or street lights. We have a septic tank so do not use sewerage. We do not use the local primary school. We compost all our compostable waste and recycle what we can, on average we produce about one bag of rubbish a month. Despite of this, in the past five years our council tax has doubled. It seems this government's policy is punish rural dwellers financially and reduce the tax burden in towns because that is where your votes are.
Adrian, North Yorkshire

I was born and live in a rural community in Lancashire, high up on the Pennines. It has - so far, at least - taken two years to get my Council Tax rebate sorted out. I pay almost �900 per year in Council Tax and last week had a red-letter about overdue payments because my tax account was in credit and the computer system is so poorly funded it cannot cope with accounts in credit. We get our bins emptied once every two weeks and that is the only service we get. We have no local police, no local fire service, no local ambulance service, no local education authority, no leisure amenities at all, no sheltered housing for the elderly, no hospital service... when I say no services, I truly mean it! Everything has to be provided by nearby local authorities!
Mark Preston, Whitworth, Lancashire

Firstly, central government should stop increasing the tax burden on local authorities. Secondly, there should be more discretion by local government in determining the real needs of the population and not simply following central government edicts. My council tax has about doubled in seven years and in part it is due to urban ideas being imposed on rural communities. For instance, the collection of biodegradable waste rather than encouraging local composting. Maybe local tax should be raised in relation to population density where areas of high density that have a large environmental impact pay more per capita than lower density areas. I can only see matters deteriorating should a regional assembly be installed. It is imperative that the government understands that modern Britons expect more when they pay more.
Tim, Rural North Yorkshire

This seems to me to be rural people complaining about not being subsidised by those living in cities. I'm sure we'd all like to live in large houses with good plots of land benefiting from great views and a more peaceful environment. The fact is that it costs much more to provide services to people in sparsely populated areas than to those crammed in the cities. People who have made a lifestyle choice for a better standard of living should not be asking those crammed into overcrowded, dirty, dangerous, noisy cities to be subsidising them
James Metcalfe, High Wycombe

I'd like to respond to the person who said that 'we'd all like to live in big houses with plots of land'. Rural living does not mean a big house and 20 acres. I live in a 2 up 2 down cottage with no parking or garden, but pay �1400 per year in council tax. It makes me laugh, has this person ever been to the country side? If you live in a mansion with lots of land, your Council Tax bill will be thousands. We're not rich, we just live in the country, same as you're not rich and just live in the city. Anyway even if I was rich, I don't see why I should pay more money for the same services.
Hayley Warren, Susses Uk

It is frustrating how we are looked over and forgotten about for things like broadband, cable, mains gas, doctors' surgeries, libraries, schools and many other things. It is an expensive amount to pay when you have no kids and you just get the bin emptied.
Resident, UK small village, Little Wenlock, Shropshire, UK

The best way forward is for a revamp of the poll tax Victoria, Farnham, UK

I live in a tiny village on the Surrey/Hampshire borders and currently pay approximately �1500 pa. For this princely sum I get my rubbish bins emptied once a week and very little else as we have no street lights or facilities. If the roads need maintenance or gritting when it snows the bordering councils say it is the others' responsibility. All in all, not a lot for a very high price. Surely the best way forward is for a revamp of the poll tax in line with the level of services and facilities provided.
Victoria, Farnham, UK

The problem is not really Council Tax, but the government's decision not to raise Income Tax rates. A huge increase in government spending is being paid for by stretching to the limit every tax except the fairest, Income Tax. The Council Tax mechanism forces small absolute increases to appear as very large percentage rises. The distribution of local subsidies hits rural dwellers hardest. If we want more central social spending, it ought to be financed by an earnings related tax, perhaps introducing a 50% IT band for all those earning more than (say) �60,000, or by raising Gains Tax to 45%.
Colin K, Shropshire

My wife and I, a retired couple live on the edge of Worcester and enjoy none of the subsidised transport of the city, we have no connection to the main sewer and the only service we get is refuse collection yet our council tax went up by 12.2% last April and we now pay �1542 on a small cottage.
William Birch, Worcester England

This is a classic pressure group tactic - to quote numbers without enough context. What they haven't said is what is the level of need for public services. While there certainly is deprivation in the countryside it's not on the same scale as in the inner city - so I'm not surprised that there is some redistribution.
Tim, London, UK

I live in a rural village of approx 300 people and we have no amenities at all yet our council tax is the same as villages with more facilities. The council tax should also be based on what facilities are available to you in your area.
Ian Kellwick, Hillesden, Buckingham, England

No area is clobbered worse than this borough. Our services, pathetic as they were, are getting worse on top of this. The answer is to dump council tax and come up with a sensible basis for taxation - either poll tax (under a different name) or, better still, a local income tax.
RPG, London Borough of Barnet

I say abolish all local taxes and increase income tax by 2 to 5% to cover the lost revenue. Central government then hands the money to local councils based on the size of the area and the services they provide and the population using those services. Rural areas are given more per capita based on the geographical situation. If services are cut by local councils their funding is subsequently cut too. Cutting out a layer of taxation will reduce the bureaucracy and politics and save millions of pounds of wasted taxpayers' money.
Doug, Reading , Berkshire

The problem with Doug of Reading's idea is that the Government will not allocate their local grants according to need, but according to the party affiliation of the local council. If his suggestion were coupled with a ban on party politics in local elections, of course, it would work much better!
Simon Richardson, London, UK

I don't feel that either rural or urban dwellers are getting value for money from council tax MBW, UK

I live on the edge of a rural area, within a town, and to be perfectly frank I don't feel that either rural or urban dwellers are getting value for money from council tax.
MBW, UK

Somehow it does seem fair. It is one of the better means to counter suburbanisation, which not only harms the open space but is also relatively more expensive in terms of services. I think that is not all too hard to understand. On top of that argument, living in the countryside is - in a way - a luxury in itself. Open space too, comes not for free. Rurality in itself should also be considered a service, and taxes are a way of 1) paying for that service and 2) warranting the open space doesn't get overpopulated and maintains its quality.
Brecht Nuyttens, Ghent, Belgium

My council tax has risen every year of the four years I've been living here. For this I get roads full of potholes, a policeman for one afternoon a week (in a car, not on foot) and our only bus service to the nearest town (which also stopped at the hospital) was discontinued this May for not being 'viable'. The most visible service that I pay for is my rubbish collection which from October will only be once a fortnight. This is a 50% reduction in the service - but will I see any reduction when I get my council tax bill next year? I think not. My town - dwelling counterparts have resurfaced roads, a 24hr manned police station, weekly rubbish collections (which also include glass recycling - mine does not) and bus services - I resent helping to pay for these services, when mine are being cut and cut all of the time.
Jess, Herts, UK

The Council Tax in my area is the second highest in Kent - close to �1800 a year! And that is not even the most expensive property band - this is Band F, and has gone up 5.2% since last year. For this, I get an ever decreasing level of service, with the Council setting out yet more targets it must reach, some of which are 10 years away! Like Jess, the most visible service is one of refuse collection - which has recently changed to meet yet another strategic target. They will only collect refuse in the bin - no extra bags or boxes at all. Value for money? I think not. A disparity with those in more built up areas? Hell, yes. And to think, most people in London complain of anything close to �1,000 a year!
Vince, Headcorn, UK