Andy Street has vowed that ‘financial competence’ will remain at the heart of everything he does if he is re-elected as West Midlands Mayor – as he promised to bring in billions more in investment, while not costing residents a penny in tax.
The Mayor’s pledge came as new research showed that UNCOSTED and UNFUNDED promises made by Labour candidate Richard Parker could cost Tax Payers a staggering £1,900 each over the next four years.
Speaking as he met residents in Dudley Town Centre to talk about his plans, Andy outlined how his business-like approach had won record levels of investment, and how he is determined to deliver even more for residents.
Andy’s record over the last seven years:
- Brought in £10 billion in additional Government investment.
- Brought in record private sector inward investment.
- Delivered a balanced budget every year.
- Not charged a penny in Mayoral Tax.
Andy’s plan for the next four years:
- Bring in billions more in investment.
- Maintain an iron grip on the region’s finances.
- Not charge a penny in Mayoral Tax.
Andy said: “People are about to make an incredibly important choice in this election, and they need to choose a leader who will do what he promises to do, at the right price.
“Financial competence has always underpinned my work as Mayor, allowing us to deliver everything from record housebuilding to low transport fares and life-changing training schemes. My approach is always to make sure that my plans are fully costed and that we know where the cash will come from.
“If I am re-elected, this iron grip on the region’s finances will continue. That’s why all of the promises in my election manifesto are fully-costed, with potential funding pots identified.
“However, Labour have made a number of promises without explaining the cost or where the money will come from to pay for them – like bringing the buses into public ownership and bringing forward our Net Zero target.
“When they have been asked to provide the figures behind these promises, they have not produced them. So, we have done the sums for them – and they add up to a huge potential bill for residents.
“This research shows that the promises made by Labour could cost every Tax Payer in the West Midlands an extra £1,900 over the next four years – a staggering amount of money.
“In contrast, I have no intention of charging a Mayoral Tax, because this job is about bringing money into the region – not taking it from residents’ pockets.
“The choice in this election is now clear. It is between my business-like approach or the kind of financial mismanagement that has seen Labour-run Birmingham go bankrupt, where Council Tax is rising by 21%.”
The real price of just two of the Labour candidate’s UNCOSTED and UNFUNDED promises:
Franchising buses:
Labour say it would cost just £25million – but have refused to share how they arrived at this figure.
When the same thing was done in Greater Manchester (which has a smaller bus network than the West Midlands) the cost was at least £135 million.
Spreading this cost over four years would mean an extra £33.8 million extra unfunded burden for Tax Payers per year.
In contrast, Andy has said he will wait to see the findings of a WMCA report, which is due in the summer, into the potential benefits of bus franchising before making any decision which could impact on local bus services, as well as fares – which are currently the cheapest in the UK.
Net Zero:
Labour say they will bring forward the region’s Net Zero target to 2035 - which would have huge cost implications.
Take retrofitting as an example: which is already due to cost the region £771 million per year over the next few years according to the WMCA, paid for by a combination of homeowners, business owners and the public sector.
However, to deliver Net Zero five years earlier, these costs would spike to £1.1bn per year - a difference of £321m extra per year. This would have to come from the public sector as a subsidy to accelerate the target - paid for ultimately by local taxpayers in the region.
Added to other UNCOSTED and UNFUNDED promises from the Labour candidate, West Midlands Tax Payers face a bill of £425m extra per year, or £1.7 billion over the next four years.
Divided across 893,000 Council Tax Payers in the WMCA area, that’s £1,900 per tax payer/household over the four years of a Mayoral term.