Opinion: Could Fenland's council tax cut be a political ruse ready for the elections this spring?

All around us costs are going up - every one of the organisations that provides public services in our area are putting their chunk of our council tax bills up - well almost every one.

Fenland District Council is the glaring exception. It is planning to cut its share of the council tax by 2% - which equates to an annual saving for the average Band D householder of £5.

Every little helps as the saying goes - but I’m really not sure that I will really notice the missing extra fiver when the council tax bill lands through the letter box next month.

And I would even go so far as to say to Fenland, well done for trying to help us in these days of rising costs, but really I’m not sure what the point of this move is. It actually works out at just 46p a month, and I would argue that no-one is going to miss that, or even notice such a meagre reduction when everyone else from the county council to the crime commissioner and fire service are taking more from us this year than last.

And now the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority has got in on the act and is actually starting to charge us for the first time.

Fenland would be better off keeping the fiver or whatever it is for other bands of council tax and using the £162,000 it would raise to spend on something useful - such as providing extra funding to our leisure centres, which are really struggling with energy costs, so much so that swimming pools are no longer being properly heated or promoting all the empty shop units littering our towns or, talking of litter, perhaps doing more street cleaning rather than relying on the brilliant teams of volunteers that operate throughout the district - the options are manifold.

Could the council tax cut be little more than political smoke and mirrors with the elections and our votes later this spring in mind - the cynic in me thinks it’s likely.

One member of the royal family looks like he may be set to get a taste of life in the real world.

Apparently Prince Andrew is facing the possibility of having to move out of his grand grade-II listed mansion in the grounds of Windsor Castle.

Why? Because his big brother, King Charles, is reportedly set to cut the financial prop Andrew receives from the royal coffers. King Charles inherited the Duchy of Lancaster when the Queen died. The duchy is a portfolio of land, property and other assets worth a staggering £652m, and provides a private income to the monarch of about £25m a year.

Before the Queen died Andrew - reportedly the favourite of her four children - received around £250,000 from duchy funds.

That cash obviously helped finance the lifestyle to which Andrew is accustomed - the sort of living most of us can only dream of.

But according to national media reports the new King has warned his family to expect tighter budgets and heaven forbid they might have to spend more of their own money.

The cut could see Andrew having to rely on his Navy pension - not sure how much that is - but it is certainly going to be a lot less than £250,000 a year.

This news means. according to reports, Prince Andrew and his ex-wife who uses Royal Lodge in the grounds of Windsor Castle as her UK-base, may find themselves struggling to maintain the Grade-II listed building, and may even have to move out.

Welcome to the real world Prince Andrew - struggling to pay bills and keep the roof over your head however modest that might be compared to a royal residence is something faced by his family’s subjects every day of the week.

Living within your means is als a life-lesson every commoner must face so I’m sure it will be a real eye-opener for this prince to find out what it’s like to live like the rest of us with one eye constantly on the bills.

On a completely different note how marvellous is it that 101-year-old Norah, who lives in a Fenland care home, has discovered yoga?

She apparently loves the sessions at Hickathrift House. It maybe armchair yoga, but it is still a lot more activity than many of us manage.

It just goes to show you are never too old to exercise or learn something new.

Good on her, I just wish I had that kind of motivation - then maybe my New Year’s resolution to get fitter and thinner in 2023 would not already be a dim and distant memory.

Well done Norah you’re an inspiration to us all....