Tim Spencer is correct in querying the council tax adult social care (ASC) precept increase (CP letters, 09-04-21).

IW Council are not alone in sliding this inflation busting increase past the eyes of most people.

Hampshire County Council (HCC) have done exactly the same. I spotted the same anomaly a few weeks ago.

The HCC 3 per cent hike is actually 34 per cent (same as IWC), compared with 2020.

Doing my sums, I worked out that the 3 per cent increase is not applied to the ASC precept alone but to the total council tax bill, hence 34 per cent increase.

I questioned two local councillors (of different political parties) in my area about it.

I also delved further back.

The ASC precept was first introduced on my bill in 2016 at £18 a year, an amount most people were prepared to pay if it helped provide social care for people in need. Five years later, on my bill, its £133, over 600 per cent increase! Compare that to the sum of annual increases quoted by HCC (and IWC?) of 11 per cent over five years.

If every local authority across England has used the same clever little tax raising ruse, then nationally we have all been hoodwinked.

Did I get satisfactory answers from my councillors? No. Both parties displayed ‘sloping shoulders’ syndrome.

The big, nagging question it leaves is, exactly how much of this precept is actually used to pay for adult social care?