Council tax set to triple for the most vulnerable people. Green party opposes.

Labour, Tory and LibDem councillors voted to cut Council Tax support for 18,000 vulnerable families and triple their Wirral Council Tax bills. Green Councillor Jo Bird speaks against the proposal and alternatives.

Read the full speech here:

"As the new Green MP, Hannah Spencer said last Friday, “I don’t think its extreme or radical to think working hard should get you a nice life. And if you’re not able to work, that you should still have a nice life. People told me…that we are sick of … our hard work making people rich.”

Voting for this Council Tax Reduction Scheme means that next month, the Council will send bills to the 14,550 lowest income families in the smallest homes - demanding £555 per year more.

I'm angry that their Council Tax bill will TRIPLE. An increase of 200%. All other Wirral residents will have a 5% increase in their Council Tax bill.

How will the Council spend this hard earned £555 per year?

£555 pays for just five working hours of the Chief Executive. Is that value for money?

£555 pays for one week’s rent in temporary accommodation. Homelessness that will become £555 closer for 18,000 houses across the Wirral.

Talking of homelessness, nationally, there are 134,760 households in temporary accommodation, at September 2025, and rising year on year. Shelter’s research from December shows at least 382,000 people are homeless.

On the Wirral, there are around 950 active cases with Housing Options Team. That’s a 950 households facing life without a secure home. Many of them with children.

Its extremely cruel to add more bills onto people that can’t pay and push them into homelessness. At £555 per week rent in temporary accommodation, this would wipe out the £4m savings, if only 138 affected households were homeless for a year. That’s less than 1% of households. Its 1 in 130 households that currently get Council Tax benefit.

This is just one major reason why we Greens say there are better ways to balance this budget. and why other Councils across the country are not cutting Council Tax support, despite also struggling to balance their Council budget. If other Councils can do it, then so can Wirral.

There is an alternative, as Cllr Ed Lamb outlined. We can balance the budget in a much better way. We can use the borrowing facility agreed by Council and officers and the government.

The interest and repayments on £4m would be only £400,000 per year. A mere 0.1% of the Council’s budget of £495m next year. But the Council leadership has chosen not to find that £400,000 more.

Is this a political choice, pure incompetence or both? Either way, its a failure of leadership and we don't support it."

02.03.2026