Brian Webster, Green Party candidate in the Fulwood by election said “At the Council Budget meeting in March, Green Party councillors proposed a small increase in council tax (48p per week for most households) to save vital services such as libraries and children’s centres, and to increase the hardship fund to help households hit by the loss of council tax benefit. We recognised that people across the city are being hit by a triple whammy of rising prices, squeezed incomes and reduced council services, but it is important to help those with the greatest need. There is clear evidence that people are less happy in less equal societies. With widening inequality due to coalition cuts we make no apologies for asking those who paid council tax in Fulwood ward before April 1st to pay a little more. It’s a shame that Labour and the Lib Dems voted against our proposed referendum, which would have allowed Sheffield people a voice on the cuts to vital services the city is facing in 2013/2014 and for many years ahead.”