County to hold down council tax rise
Tuesday, 26th January 2010.
The largest element of council tax is likely to go up by the smallest amount this year.
Suffolk County Council’s cabinet plans to recommend its lowest ever council tax increase of just 2.4 per cent for 2010-11 at its meeting on February 2.
Cllr Jane Storey, Suffolk County Council’s portfolio holder for resource management and transformation, said: “In a time of recession, and with an ageing population, more people than ever need our help.
"We are mindful of the need to keep council tax as low as possible without jeopardising essential services, which is why we will be discussing an increase of just 2.4 per cent at our cabinet meeting next week.
"This proposed rise equates to an extra 50p a week for households in a Band D council tax property.”
“Once again, the difficult financial climate in this country means that we need to balance the increase in demand for our services with keeping council tax rises as low as possible.
"We will be continuing to invest in vital frontline services so that we can deliver our priorities to improve the lives of Suffolk residents.”
Areas that are being prioritised for extra spending include £1.5m as a one-off payment for roads maintenance to help deal with the effects of the particularly harsh winter, £1.7m to continue the investment in social workers to help support vulnerable children and their families, £1.6m to pay for the additional numbers and more complex placements of young people coming into the care system, £4m to help care for older people who most need specialist support and £1.6m to pay for extra landfill tax.
A capital spending programme, worth £140.5m, to improve county buildings and infrastructure, will also be discussed as part of the budget paper.
This spending programme includes £68.7m for school buildings, which will help to deliver the county council’s priority to transform learning and skills in Suffolk.
It also includes £41.6m on environment and transport related schemes, of which £20.2m is planned to be spent on maintaining and improving the county’s transport infrastructure.
Cllr Storey added: “As one of the two most cost-efficient councils in the country, we have already made £70m of efficiency savings to help reduce our funding gaps.
"This includes £12.5m last year, with a further £9.3m planned for the next year. It is clear that we must continue to work innovatively and in collaboration with others across the public sector in Suffolk to reduce costly duplication, to ensure that we are providing the best possible services at the best possible cost.”
The council tax total in Haverhill also includes levies from St Edmundsbury Borough Council, Suffolk Police Authority and Haverhill Town Council, which are yet to be announced for this year, but the county council's element is currently around 75 per cent of the total.
Suffolk County Council’s cabinet plans to recommend its lowest ever council tax increase of just 2.4 per cent for 2010-11 at its meeting on February 2.
Cllr Jane Storey, Suffolk County Council’s portfolio holder for resource management and transformation, said: “In a time of recession, and with an ageing population, more people than ever need our help.
"We are mindful of the need to keep council tax as low as possible without jeopardising essential services, which is why we will be discussing an increase of just 2.4 per cent at our cabinet meeting next week.
"This proposed rise equates to an extra 50p a week for households in a Band D council tax property.”
“Once again, the difficult financial climate in this country means that we need to balance the increase in demand for our services with keeping council tax rises as low as possible.
"We will be continuing to invest in vital frontline services so that we can deliver our priorities to improve the lives of Suffolk residents.”
Areas that are being prioritised for extra spending include £1.5m as a one-off payment for roads maintenance to help deal with the effects of the particularly harsh winter, £1.7m to continue the investment in social workers to help support vulnerable children and their families, £1.6m to pay for the additional numbers and more complex placements of young people coming into the care system, £4m to help care for older people who most need specialist support and £1.6m to pay for extra landfill tax.
A capital spending programme, worth £140.5m, to improve county buildings and infrastructure, will also be discussed as part of the budget paper.
This spending programme includes £68.7m for school buildings, which will help to deliver the county council’s priority to transform learning and skills in Suffolk.
It also includes £41.6m on environment and transport related schemes, of which £20.2m is planned to be spent on maintaining and improving the county’s transport infrastructure.
Cllr Storey added: “As one of the two most cost-efficient councils in the country, we have already made £70m of efficiency savings to help reduce our funding gaps.
"This includes £12.5m last year, with a further £9.3m planned for the next year. It is clear that we must continue to work innovatively and in collaboration with others across the public sector in Suffolk to reduce costly duplication, to ensure that we are providing the best possible services at the best possible cost.”
The council tax total in Haverhill also includes levies from St Edmundsbury Borough Council, Suffolk Police Authority and Haverhill Town Council, which are yet to be announced for this year, but the county council's element is currently around 75 per cent of the total.
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