Council says effects of spending review will be tough
Wednesday, 20th October 2010.
Today's Government spending review is likely to hit councils hard over the next few years, and St Edmundsbury Borough Council says local communities will have to work with it to deliver services in future.
Following the announcement today that funding for councils will be cut by 7.1 per cent a year for each of the next four years, council leader Cllr John Griffiths has issued a statement.
“The impact on council funding is not unexpected and we have been planning for months how to deal with it," says Cllr Griffiths.
"We have already looked carefully at every service and budget and will continue to do so in the coming months, but we will not know the exact impact until we receive complete information on our grants from the Government later in the year.
"I do know that councils and local communities will need to work together to come up with different ways of sharing responsibilities, providing and paying for services.
"St Edmundsbury has consistently delivered efficient, good quality services and huge investments in our local economy while keeping council tax rises to very low levels.
"We will continue to minimise our council tax burden on residents, notwithstanding the impact of these funding cuts.
"Two years ago we saved 6.4 per cent from our budget, last year we saved 6.7 per cent - St Edmundsbury is good at making savings and we will continue to do so.
"With our neighbouring council, Forest Heath, we have already started the process of sharing services across West Suffolk and we will look carefully at what else we need to do to increase those savings further.
"We hope our local communities will work with us to ensure facilities are available, and services reach those who need them. It is a challenge, but one that I am sure we can tackle together.”
Following the announcement today that funding for councils will be cut by 7.1 per cent a year for each of the next four years, council leader Cllr John Griffiths has issued a statement.
“The impact on council funding is not unexpected and we have been planning for months how to deal with it," says Cllr Griffiths.
"We have already looked carefully at every service and budget and will continue to do so in the coming months, but we will not know the exact impact until we receive complete information on our grants from the Government later in the year.
"I do know that councils and local communities will need to work together to come up with different ways of sharing responsibilities, providing and paying for services.
"St Edmundsbury has consistently delivered efficient, good quality services and huge investments in our local economy while keeping council tax rises to very low levels.
"We will continue to minimise our council tax burden on residents, notwithstanding the impact of these funding cuts.
"Two years ago we saved 6.4 per cent from our budget, last year we saved 6.7 per cent - St Edmundsbury is good at making savings and we will continue to do so.
"With our neighbouring council, Forest Heath, we have already started the process of sharing services across West Suffolk and we will look carefully at what else we need to do to increase those savings further.
"We hope our local communities will work with us to ensure facilities are available, and services reach those who need them. It is a challenge, but one that I am sure we can tackle together.”
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