Bradford Council has been accused of a cover up after it told an MP it did not have details of cash raised from council tax collection by ward – only for the former leader and now Government minister to tell Parliament the data is available.
Shipley MP Philip Davies said he had requested a breakdown from the council of monies collected in council tax across the district, broken down by council ward - something he thought would be “readily available” to any local authority.
Speaking in Local Government questions he called for it to be made law that councils produce such data annually after repeatedly being denied the information by Bradford Council.
Mr Davies said: “They keep refusing to publish this information saying that they do not even have this information. We all know why it is, it is as they do not want to show how much is contributed from the Shipley constituency in council tax and how little goes back to the constituency.”
Mr Davies said it should be statutory to publish how much council tax receipts they receive from each ward in the area.
Former Bradford Council leader and Keighley MP Kris Hopkins, in his role as local government minister said he too asked for that information when he headed up the authority, and information was provided.
During Commons questions and in response Mr Hopkins said: “I asked that same question and I was given that information. Of course it was a Conservative led administration that wanted to be transparent and open about the amount of money that was raised. Bradford council has nothing to hide from actually publishing these figures and giving people who make a significant contribution to the economy of the district to know where there money is raised and spent.”
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