The Government froze council tax last year and the reason Basildon’s Conservative administration gave its residents a paltry reduction of 56p per household was in order for it to receive a Government cash grant.

I therefore couldn’t help but scoff when I read that councillor Frank Turner implied a further cut may be partly possible due to his administration’s supposed “long-term financial management”, but then appeared to blame the Government by saying if it was only a one-off grant payment his administration could be forced to introduce a much higher tax increase in 2014.

As for his administration’s supposed long-term financial management, we should remind ourselves the golf course fiasco and the waste of taxpayer’s money there, plus the costly delays and mistakes made in the Dale Farm eviction and the playing fields being sold off to fund a shortfall on the Sporting Village.

We should also remember the high management salaries and bonuses when others are losing their jobs.

These all make this administration’s management references highly questionable.

Phil Jacobs
Grapnells
Vange