Tag: value for money

Edinburgh council tax payers pay £587 less on average than those in England

Official figures reveal that council taxpayers in Edinburgh pay on average £587 a year less than they would in Tory-run England and £398 less than in Labour-run Wales.

Across Scotland, council tax payers get the best deal in Britain. The figures also demonstrate that the savings for Scottish council tax payers in comparison to what those in England and Wales will pay is going to be even greater next year.

  • The research shows that Band D council tax payers in Edinburgh pay £1,379 which is £587 less than the equivalent in England and £398 less than in Wales.
  • Council tax across Scotland is lower than in England – for 2022/23, the average Band D Council Tax bill in Scotland is £1347 compared to £1966 in England and £1777 in Wales.
  • For 2022/23, the average charge for all property bands, including E, F, G and H, is between £413 and £651 lower in Scotland than England.
  • The average council tax increase in Scotland for 2022/23 was 3.0%, compared with 3.5% in England and 2.7% in Wales.

Commenting, SNP MSP Gordon MacDonald said: “Council taxpayers in Edinburgh are paying £587 less than they would in England. In fact, council taxpayers across Scotland get the best deal in Britain.

“On top of the £150 council tax rebate announced last month by Finance Secretary Kate Forbes, this demonstrates that the Scottish Government is doing all it can within its restricted powers and resources to keep as much money as possible in the pockets of Scottish families.

“Council tax bills in Edinburgh are so substantially lower because the SNP has such a strong record of delivering the best value. For an entire decade the SNP Scottish Government froze the cost of council tax – despite Westminster continuing to slash the Scottish budget.

“The SNP Scottish Government is also rolling out a social security system based on fairness and respect. It has introduced the ‘game-changing’ Scottish Child Payment – which will deliver £25 per week per child for the lowest income families in Edinburgh – and we are increasing a range of Scottish social security benefits by six per cent.

“It is a glaring contrast with the Westminster Tory Government which, far from protecting hard-pressed families from the spiralling Tory cost of living crisis, it callously cut vital Universal Credit support by £20 a week for the poorest families.

“This is a real tale of two Governments and the people of Scotland will have the opportunity to send a message to Boris Johnson by rejecting the Tories in the local elections on May 5.”

‘A tale of two governments’? It’s worth pointing out that neither Boris Johnson nor Nicola Sturgeon will be standing in May’s LOCAL government elections. These elections are supposed to be about who runs our council services!

Edinburgh is currently under the control of an SNP – Labour ‘Capital Coalition’ partnership. Do you think Edinburgh taxpayers are really getting a ‘good deal’? – Ed. …

Ryanair rock bottom yet again while Jet2 flies high in Which? airline survey

‘Ryanair seems to be proud of being difficult’

Ryanair and British Airways have finished at the bottom of Which?’s annual survey of short-haul airlines, with both companies panned for providing poor customer service to those with disrupted flights during the pandemic.

The consumer champion surveyed more than 1,300 passengers for their experiences of flying with short-haul airlines in areas such as boarding, cabin cleanliness, customer service and value for money since November 2019. 

In a second part of the survey, Which? asked more than 1,100 passengers whose flights were disrupted how satisfied they were with how their airline handled the issue. The actions of some airlines – delaying or denying refunds for flights cancelled, or which passengers could not take, due to Covid – were reflected in these results.

Budget carrier Ryanair received an overall customer score of 55 per cent and a lamentable 47 per cent in the refund satisfaction category, with one in five customers telling Which? it took them more than a month to get a refund. 

One customer said: “Ryanair is the most awkward airline to deal with that I have ever come across. It seems to be proud of being difficult.” 

Themes that have appeared time and again – making Ryanair a fixture in the bottom three of Which?’s airline survey for more than a decade – were also evident, with another passenger adding: “Total lack of transparency about costs, and treating passengers like cattle to be squeezed for the last penny.”

When asked, ‘Is there an airline you would never fly with?’, three-quarters (74%) named Ryanair. Ryanair scored no better than two stars for all the measures in the main customer satisfaction survey – apart from value for money, where it scored three stars.

BA was second from bottom with a customer score of 63 per cent – just behind TUI Airways, but with a much lower refund satisfaction score. 

Passengers reported spending hours on hold only to be hung up on, or passed endlessly between different departments. This disappointing customer service, along with two-star ratings for food and drink, seat comfort and value for money, led one passenger to describe BA as ‘a budget style airline at premium prices’.

However, BA’s cabins ranked as joint cleanest alongside KLM and Jet2. 

Jet2 was top of the table and earned a Which? Recommended Provider endorsement.

Its record on delivering refunds was the best: more than eight in 10 (84%) respondents were satisfied with the outcome when their flight was disrupted because of Covid, and throughout the pandemic, most passengers have received a resolution in two weeks. 

Nine in 10 Jet2 customers told Which? they got a full refund, rather than having a voucher foisted upon them.

Its Covid flexibility policy is one of the best, allowing customers to make fee-free changes for most pandemic-related disruption, including lockdowns, quarantines and changing FCDO advice.

One Which? survey respondent said: “The pandemic has seen Jet2 shine. Its standard of customer care exceeds that of any other low-cost airline.”

Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel, said: “Ryanair’s consistently terrible customer service has made it a fixture among the worst performers in our surveys for many years – but the airline plumbed new depths with its handling of Covid refunds.

“BA’s reputation also deservedly took a battering when it took a hard line on refunds for passengers who could not travel because they followed government health guidance. 

“Many passengers will not forget how they were treated by companies during the pandemic. Covid could still cause disruption to international travel, so we would advise travellers to book with operators that have flexible booking policies and a record of treating their customers fairly.”  

Holiday costs fall across Europe

  • Sunny Beach, Bulgaria remains Europe’s best bargain – prices are down 10.7 per cent
  • The Algarve is cheapest in the eurozone – less than half the price in Sorrento
  • Prices have dropped year-on-year in three-quarters of resorts, with the biggest fall of over 20 per cent in Limassol, Cyprus

While sterling may remain in a period of flux in the coming weeks, one thing more certain is that bargain-hunting holidaymakers will find their pounds stretch furthest in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria, which is best value of 20 European beach resorts surveyed for the Post Office Travel Money Holiday Costs Barometer.  Continue reading Holiday costs fall across Europe