Councils and charges

The piece i'm refering to is written by a Labour councillor, so should be taken with the right amount of salt.
But the point is valid:
Shadow Secretary of State for Local Government Caroline Spelman has been attacking the Labour government for forcing councils to charge more for services. Isn't that the same Tory party who have been going on about how wonderful Barnet council is, that's the one where they charge for services. Not only that, it's not just a 2 tier approach, it's a sliding scale: want a service good and quick? Pay more and you get it.
That to me is wrong because quality and speed of service should not come down to ability to pay, it should be on the basis of need.