PUBLIC sector workers and business owners can expect little or no increase in their earnings this year. The recession is hurting all those who worked and saved in the good times and now the bad.

Yet during these hard times our new Durham County Council unitary authority is sending out higher council tax bills. A pledge to reduce council tax was quickly dropped and we’re all left wondering if anything has really changed.

When politicians make promises they should keep them or not make them at all. Durham County Council has got off to a poor start. All of us living and working in Durham need the county and parish councils to work for us. We need them to really change for the better.

Nick Varley, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate, Durham City