TAXES IN SHIREBROOK

Some time ago, someone on Facebook tried to argue that one party raises taxes more than the other, citing a single year’s figures. One data point is not data — it’s a fracture.

Constructing a narrative based on a single data point is like writing a book with a single word. It just doesn’t work. So I decided to make an article about changes in Shirebrook tax rates over the last decade. Here is the truth:

EACH MAIN PARTY’S TAX RECORD IS ABYSMAL
We currently have two parties in power across our region: Labour at STC and BDC, and Reform at DCC. We also need to talk about the Conservatives, who held DCC for nine out of the last ten years. So let’s look at their records and compare, shall we? Let’s analyse them alphabetically.

Conservatives
In our region, they raised taxes eight times in nine years, but still under inflation growth – that is quite a good record, which was completely overshadowed by the abysmal performance of the central government. Their last government ended with the highest taxes in modern UK history, and for a party running on allegedly conservative values, that is inexcusable.

In my view, there is nothing conservative about this party anymore. Pro-immigration, pro-high taxes, pro-so-called “gender affirmation care,” pro-EU, pro-DEI, pro-net-zero. Recently, they even created a coalition with the Greens in one of the regions. From where I stand, the only difference between them and Labour is the logo and a more “diverse” leader.

Labour
In our region, they raised taxes 19 times in the last 10 years (9 times at STC and 10 times at BDC). When they took central government, they promised they would not raise taxes on working people — and then they raised them in every budget. There is no defence for that tax record. Add to that rising inflation, rising gilt rates, rising unemployment, and flatlining GDP. Historically, every Labour government has broken the economy. This one is on track to keep that record alive.

Reform Party
In our region, Reform has raised taxes once, mainly because they have been in power for only one year and inherited a Derbyshire County Council with £450 million of debt. That said, the fact remains: either Reform reforms the councils it runs and stops raising taxes above the rate of inflation, or voters will quickly turn against them. Full stop.

Reform must understand that for voters to see a difference between them and the uniparty, they must do things differently. The chart below shows that in a debt-saddled Derbyshire, this will be extraordinarily difficult.

THIS IS THE FULL PICTURE
When you talk about Labour, you are talking about an ideology that punishes hard-working people with taxes and hands their money to those who don’t work. This is the picture Labour wants you to forget. The picture the Conservatives pretend not to be part of. The picture that Reform voters cannot accept as the default state of affairs.

You can’t grow an economy and encourage people to work hard by raising taxes. It just doesn’t work like that. And yet, on the S247 fanpage, Labour supporters keep showing up in the comments pointing at Reform’s single tax rise while completely ignoring the nineteen rises by their beloved Labour Party.

Don’t you see what Labour has done to you and your family? How can you defend that record?


I CAME WITH REAL DATA, AND…
So I decided to respond to that person by showing them the bigger picture. I dug out a tax comparison table I had originally put together for my 2023 election leaflet, added the 2024, 2025 and 2026 figures, and posted it under their comment. That person has not replied to this day.

I have since redesigned the table to make it easier to read, but the message in the data has not changed. This table tells the story of a region dominated by two parties that have completely lost touch with reality. Here is the tax reality of the last decade, based on the numbers on my own council tax bills:


HAPPY ACCIDENT
What’s more — while searching for my 2024–2026 tax bills, I found, wedged in the corner of a drawer, a bill from… 2013. I had been looking for it for years and had long ago made peace with the fact that I had lost it or thrown it out. My first ever tax bill, for my newly bought, first home. I looked at the numbers on it and… my jaw hit the floor. A rise in taxes alongside a fall in the quality of life and services is shocking.

MONEY TALKS
To prove I am not pulling numbers out of thin air, below is a copy of the very first council tax bill I ever received — while I was still living at my “old address” in Mansfield. For clarity: the purchase of my house in Shirebrook was completed on 30 November 2013, the bill was issued on 4 December 2013, but I did not actually move into the property until 20 December 2013. I needed time to buy some furniture, a fridge, pots and pans, sign contracts with gas and electricity suppliers, and so on.

Here is the bill, showing what Shirebrook residents paid in council tax for the 2013/2014 financial year on a Band C property.

And below is the bill for the current year. Please note that the current bill carries additional charges levied by DCC. Beneath the images, we will begin to analyse the changes.


2013 TO 2026: TAX CHANGE vs WAGE CHANGE
But that still doesn’t tell the full story. To understand what really happened, we need to compare tax rises to wage growth. I am using the annual median wage as my data point. In the 2013/14 tax year, the median UK wage was £27,195. In the 2026/27 tax year, the median wage is forecast to reach £39,039. That is growth of just 43.6%.

Now let’s look at the change in council charges over the same period:
Derbyshire County Council increased its precept from £957.53 to £1,519.10 — a rise of 58.65%.
Bolsover District Council increased its precept from £140.58 to £191.29 — a rise of 36.07%. Shirebrook Town Council increased its precept from £184.46 to £316.78 — a rise of 71.74%.

Wages grew by 43.6%. Shirebrook Town Council’s precept grew by 71.74% — almost double the rate of wages. BDC came in below wage growth. DCC came in above, but the gap is far narrower than the gulf between STC and reality.

In my view, the Labour-led STC has been bleeding residents dry while every other tier of local government has stayed closer to what working people can actually afford. I don’t know about you, but I will not vote for anyone at the next election who does not publicly commit, before polling day, to voting against further precept rises at STC. Enough is enough. NO MORE TAX RISES AT STC.

POUND FOR POUND CHANGE
The overall annual charge in 2013/14 (tax plus other charges) was £1,490.68. In 2026/27 the total annual charge is £2,388.96.

Increase in pounds: £2,388.96 − £1,490.68 = £898.28
Percentage increase: (£898.28 ÷ £1,490.68) × 100 = 60.26%

I pay 60% more for the same or worse service, because nothing has got better here since I moved in. Even allowing for inflation, taxes are rising far faster. In my view, the blame lies with bureaucracy and net-zero costs. Bureaucracy and high energy prices are eating us alive, and a lack of scrutiny has allowed STC to enter into energy contracts at the Leisure Centre that I consider poor value for residents.

SOMEONE HAS TO STOP THIS
Someone has to put a stop to this relentless drive to raise taxes. Otherwise, we will be working only so that the council bureaucracy can pretend it is doing something for us. Currently, 79.9% of STC tax goes straight into the pockets of bureaucracy. That is why voices like mine matter, and why this community needs to help me carry that message.

Things can get better, we can cut taxes — but this town has to stop voting Labour. We need to move away from the culture of nepotism and corruption toward one of accountability and scrutiny. Labour is not the steward of policies like that. They tried, they failed. It’s time to give someone else a chance.

Sylwester Zwierzynski info@shirebrook247.com
Lead picture: made with Midjourney
Closing comic book made with ChatGPT Image 2.0 (one note- I tried to add a speaking line after: “Just a little bit more” about increasing taxes for illegal immigrants and net-zero: it was flagged as “harmful and against ChatGPT policies”. This is “Open” in OpenAI. I had to cut it out, and only then did GPT allow me to create that strip. Still works, but the message is quite different…)