- Cymraeg
- English
 |
Peter Black and South Wales West Liberal DemocratsRepresenting Aberavon, Bridgend, Gower, Neath, Ogmore, Port Talbot, and Swansea |
 |
Brown's pension raid has cost Swansea Council Taxpayers millions says AM
April 6, 2007 4:10 PM
The decision of Chancellor of the Exchequer to remove tax relief from pension dividends has led to the doubling of Swansea Council's annual pension contributions bill, the Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member for South Wales West, Peter Black, has said.
Mr. Black was commenting on figures he has obtained from the Council which reveal that in 1998/99, the year after tax relief was abolished, Swansea Council was paying £10.5 million into the pension fund for its employees. In the current financial year that bill will amount to just over £20 million.
"The removal of tax relief on pension dividends reduced the amount of money in pension schemes and left all employers with a huge shortfall that they had to make up," said Mr. Black. "This has had a big impact on the competitiveness of businesses and, where a company has not been able to meet that shortfall, as happened with Allied Steel and Wire, has hit workers as well."
"In the public sector the deficit caused by Gordon Brown's tax has been a huge drain on resources and hit service delivery very badly. In Swansea's case that amounts to an additional £10 million a year bill, the equivalent of building a new school every year or a new leisure centre every third year. The Chancellor should apologise to pensioners for the misery his actions has caused them. He should also apologise to Swansea Council Taxpayers, who are having to pick up the bill."
What would you like to do next?
-
Subscribe for updates
Follow the party's activity on...
- Twitter:
- Liberal Democrats
- Facebook:
- Liberal Democrats
- YouTube:
- Liberal Democrats