THE county's Con­servative council leader Cllr Barry Dare is busy crowing about this year's 2.9 per cent increase in the county's council tax as being the lowest in the authority's history.

This "smoke and mirrors" claim bears little scrutiny.

Council tax payers will remember that last year the county's tax went up by 3.8 per cent with a "one off" levy of 1.1 per cent to deal with the aftermath of the 2007 floods. So what happened to the 1.1 per cent levy? You've guessed it, rolled up into the base budget making the true increase this year very nearly four per cent.

Not so good when compared to this year's average council tax increase in England of three per cent.

Meanwhile, the Con­servative administration on the Forest of Dean District Council, having ignored warnings 12 months ago of a looming hole in their finances, have introduced a budget requiring a 2.5 per cent council tax increase.

They knew a year ago that the minimum deficit they would face this year would be £400,000, but the credit crunch and associated loss of council income pushed that up to £1.1 million.

The level of increase (2.5 per cent) is reasonable, but the methods of achieving it lamentable.

They have ignored opportunities to make major savings by sharing services with other Gloucestershire councils and instead, cut services.

 The most short sighted of these cuts is surely the decision to charge for the previously free treatment of rodent infestation in domestic properties. Now, rather than deal with a problem by offering free treatment, the council may have to take enforcement action involving public health officers and the courts.

It takes a particular genius to increase a public health hazard whilst at the same time increasing the potential cost of dealing with it. – Cllr Bruce Hogan, Labour and Co-operative county councillor for Brooksdean, Labour Party PPC Forest of Dean.