PRUDENT budgeting and tough decisions mean that Forest Heath
District Council has kept its potential Council Tax rise to under
8p a week ,or £4 a year, for Band D taxpayers. Over three quarters
of residents live in properties in lower tax bands and so will pay
less.
The Forest Heath element of the total Council Tax bill is less than
10%. The rest of the money goes to Suffolk County Council, Suffolk
Police and town and parish councils.
Councillor Geoffrey Jaggard, Council Leader, said: "We have had to
take some tough decisions and have cut budgets by making sure our
services offer real value for money. We will continue to make
further efficiencies and look for opportunities to generate
income."
The Council's financial position arises as a result of the economic
downturn and
just two
examples of the difficult pressures it faces are:
· A loss of interest on investments made using the receipts from
selling the housing stock. Two years ago we received more than
£2,000,000 a year; now that figure is less than £1,000,000. This is
purely because of the decline in interest rates.
· Income from Planning and Land Charges has halved. This is
because of lower levels of new building and a slow down in house
sales.
Last year the Council identified the need to save £2.5 million
over four years and has achieved this largely through Value for
Money reviews of all services. Because the recession has lasted
longer and been deeper than was initially anticipated, the Council
found itself needing to make additional savings of £2.8 million and
this has meant taking some tough decisions. Among those decisions
are:
· Subject to Brandon Healthy Living Centre being opened, we will
relocate Customer Services and Youth Activity to the new centre and
close the existing offices
· There will be reductions in the level of Non Domestic Rate
Relief
· we will relocate Newmarket Tourist Information Centre from
Palace House to our office in the Guineas
· We will reduce the number of times we cut the grass on highway
verges
(which
we do on behalf of Suffolk County Council) - the number of verge
grass cuts will still be double Suffolk County Council's
specification.
· The Council has also had to reduce and rephrase its capital
programme, which has been halved relative to the level of spending
planned two years ago.
Staff numbers at the Council are expected to reduce over the
next four years. Compulsory Redundancy will be minimised, but may
still arise. We will follow proper consultation processes and work
with staff and unions to achieve the savings required.
There are further future pressures to take into consideration. For
example, while central Government has announced a 4% rise in
grant allocation to local authorities, this year's grant to
Forest Heath District Council is, for the third year, below the
rate of inflation. The Council's grant is just 0.5% above last
year’s figure and may actually be cut in future years.
The Council's Corporate Services Committee will be consider the
possible Council Tax on 3 February and the final decision will be
made at a Council meeting later the same month.