It's actually through the local governments, many of which are Labour yet have the same issue.
Root cause: the law says to raise local taxes beyond a certain amount councils must hold a referendum. They systematically refuse to do this because they know they will lose.
Voters by and large think local councils are wasteful and don't really need more money. There's also another issue: some local councils especially in the North have a history of deliberately cutting front line services whilst e.g. expanding the central bureaucracy, because they know they can blame the Tories for not giving them "enough" money and the voters will fall for it. The councils could raise taxes, or rebalance spending, but that wouldn't energize their base.
Well I suggest you visit Norfolk. Councils have sold off their long-held land to developers, dumped their investments to their mates, stripped down services and tendered the rest. Serco does everything.
Save the odd blip, Norfolk is as blue as it gets. Interestingly they also blame central government.
And local tax raising is pretty blunt. How much your house would have been worth in April 1991, if you're working. High-retirement or high-unemployment areas usually have lower rates, and much lower incomes, while needing more than rich areas.
Yes, I said "many of which are Labour yet have the same issue" i.e. it's an issue with local governments of all stripes. There's a culture of spending more than tax levels allow then expecting central government to make up the difference.
Root cause: the law says to raise local taxes beyond a certain amount councils must hold a referendum. They systematically refuse to do this because they know they will lose.
Voters by and large think local councils are wasteful and don't really need more money. There's also another issue: some local councils especially in the North have a history of deliberately cutting front line services whilst e.g. expanding the central bureaucracy, because they know they can blame the Tories for not giving them "enough" money and the voters will fall for it. The councils could raise taxes, or rebalance spending, but that wouldn't energize their base.