As a newly elected Councillor, in May 2021, I was trying to find my feet and work out the best way for me to make a positive difference to the residents I had been elected to represent. One of the first residents to reach out to me was Fair Tax super campaigner Anne Barnes. After speaking with Anne and then meeting with Mary Patel from the Fair Tax Foundation I knew that this was a campaign I should be involved with.

Fair Tax is something that is overwhelmingly supported within Exeter, and beyond. The ethos behind the campaign of fairness and accountability are examples that it is important for large institutions to demonstrate, this can’t just be left to others. I saw support for this campaign as an opportunity to not just help the ward but the whole city and possibly further afield too, by proposing the Fair Tax Foundation motion and ensuring that it was adopted by Exeter City Council. As one of the key anchor institutions within our city it falls to the Council to set an example and lead best practice, others will then follow. The City Council’s ambitious plans for Net Zero 2030, building hundreds of new council homes to Passiv Haus standards of efficiency, the progress that has been made retrofitting current housing stock to improve energy efficiency – fighting the climate emergency and fuel poverty by reducing bills, are all ways that the City Council leads, adopting the Fair Tax Foundation standards seemed to be a natural extension of this.

After time and lobbying fellow Councillors, the motion came to full Council on the 18^th of October where I am pleased to report that the motion was passed. See a full write-up about the motion here.