WITH the festive season in full swing, West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin leapt on the bandwagon yesterday by calling Chancellor George Osborne’s autumn statement an “early Christmas present”.

But down the road at Worcester City Council it’s more a case of ‘ruddy hell than jingle bells, with the Guildhall’s leadership publishing a much-anticipated draft 2014/15 budget.

A brilliant piece of PR arrived at WN towers this week, where one had to reach the 14th paragraph to find out what services are going up in price to help plug a £974,000 gap from April.

What it didn’t include was the percentage rises people are facing, so in the true spirit of democracy, The Source has done it for you.

Adult cremation costs are going up 14.7 per cent from £610 to £700, making next year’s Christmas a true ‘season for giving’ if a loved one dies, while garden waste collections will increase 27 per cent, from £37 to £47.

Rather intelligently the Labour leadership has resisted widespread rises in car parking charges, but has, as we predicted would happen last Saturday, done some ‘tinkering around the edges’.

Scrapping the current 30-minute tariffs mean punters looking for short trips into Worcester must pay for at least an hour, effectively 100 per cent more at three car parks.

At another seven car parks paying for an hour instead of 30 minutes means handing over 125 per cent extra dosh, including the Cattle Market, King Street and Newport Street sites.

What, I hear you say, you want to stay longer than an hour? Well, this lot have thought about that too - with four-hour charges at three car parks going up a mere 20 per cent.

Someone ought to call in the inflation police. Ho, ho ho. Merry Christmas!

* WHILE on the subject of car parking prices, it is worth saying these rates are still relatively decent and won’t break the bank when compared to other cities.

But it’s interesting how Councillor Richard Boorn, the cabinet member for finance, said during a meeting this week that the council needs to be careful over handing services to outside providers, citing the greed of energy companies.

With the rat-like cunning displayed in the council’s budget, one wonders whether one or two Labour cabinet members could teach these slothful energy chiefs a trick or two!

* WE heard yesterday how a loan of £165m needs to be taken out to help fund the creation of Worcestershire’s incinerator at Hartlebury - £125m of which will be paid for by you.

Tory Councillor John Smith, a county council cabinet member, was observed at a roadshow-style consultation event only on Wednesday, saying it would be “£120m”.

What’s a few million between friends?