West Midlands Mayor Andy Street 'will not raise' council tax precept for four years
Andy Street has pledged not to raise council tax for the next four years is he is re-elected as West Midlands Mayor in May.
The Conservative Mayor says he will not use the power to raise a mayoral precept due to his ability to draw in investment from the Government.
However, his claim has been questioned by Labour's mayoral candidate Liam Byrne, who has accused Mr Street of having a £1.2 billion black hole in his budget.
Mr Street attempted to raise the annual mayoral council tax precept by £10.80 for Band D properties last year, but was voted down by Labour council leaders on the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).
He had wanted to raise extra cash for transport, housing and jobs, but now says the gap has been bridged by other funding streams.
These include drawing in £2.3bn in government funding since 2017, retaining taxes such as stamp duty and vehicle excise duty, an increase in business rates receipts, and securing funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund post-Brexit.
He also says deals are in the pipeline with investors worth hundreds of millions of pounds to pay for transport infrastructure projects.
Former John Lewis boss Mr Street said: "I am delighted that I have been able to give this commitment not to increase bills for council taxpayers in the West Midlands.
"The West Midlands has come together to bring in more money from Government and is looking to attract private sector investment.
"We are working hard to keep costs as low as possible, and as the Government works to ‘level up’ the regions of the UK, we will push to secure more funding for the West Midlands."
Birmingham MP Mr Byrne has questioned the Mayor's investment programme, claiming a shortfall means that many of the region's major projects are "unfunded and under threat".
"Out of £2 billion worth of crucial investments only £800 million is actually agreed. That’s a £1.2 billion black hole in the region’s finances," he said.
Former Chief Secretary to the Treasury Mr Byrne, who famously left a note to his successor saying 'I’m afraid there is no money', said the funding gap could jeopardise infrastructure projects such as the planned Darlaston and Willenhall railway stations.
He has written to Chancellor Rishi Sunak asking him to "plug the Tory Mayor’s funding gap".
