Conservatives councillors and candidates gathered at Shire Hall today to launch their manifesto for this year’s Gloucestershire County Council elections.  The flagship pledge is a promise to freeze council tax increases for another two years, alongside pledges to give £50,000 to each county councillor to spend on community sports facilities, and moves to bring more jobs and businesses into Gloucestershire.  
 
Cllr Mark Hawthorne, Conservative Leader of Gloucestershire County Council, commented:
“When Labour and the Liberal Democrats ran Gloucestershire County Council they put council tax up every single year.  In 2003, they put it up by 13% in a single year.  The Conservatives, in contrast, have frozen council tax for the last three years – and if we’re elected again, we’ll freeze it for at least the next two.  
 
Cllr Ray Theodoulou, Cabinet Member for Resources, commented:
“People just can’t afford big council tax hikes anymore.  We need a well, run council, that delivers the services people, particularly for the most vulnerable – but doesn’t do that by sticking up council tax every year.”