Council Tax Frozen For The Third Year

The East Riding of Yorkshire Council council tax charge will be frozen for the third consecutive year (1 April 2012 – 31 March 2013) following decisions taken by elected members at a meeting of Full Council on 9 February.

Councillor Stephen Parnaby OBE, leader of the council, said: “I am very pleased that we have again been able to freeze our charge. This is the right thing to do and a recognition that council tax is a significant outlay, especially for pensioners and others on fixed incomes.

“I believe it is fairer for people to pay for any cost increases in services they use, which we have generally kept in line with inflation, rather than hitting everyone with a higher council tax bill.”

Councils which choose to freeze council tax in 2012/13 are getting additional funding, which for the East Riding amounts to £3.6 million, but this funding is not available next year and the council has still had to find £2.2 million of additional savings to keep its charge at the current level.

The council also receives around £100 per person less funding than the average for similar authorities as a result of the government grant formula.

The council needs to make savings of approximately £43 million over the next three years 2012/13 to 2014/15 as a result of the Government funding reductions and increasing costs (for example caring for the increasing number of older people). The council’s early action in planning for inevitable changes to public funding following the global financial crisis enabled £13.7 million to be placed in a fund to help cushion the impact of cuts over the next few years.

In addition, the council has implemented a business transformation programme to review the way services are delivered. To date, nearly £10 million of the target £14 million target savings have been identified through finding different ways of delivering services, better use of buildings and more effective procurement of goods and services.

For the current financial year 2011/12, the council is on target to achieve base budget savings of £9.4 million which is on top of savings of £9.5 million achieved the previous year. These are sustainable savings and not just one-off underspends.

Concillor Parnaby said: “It is a very challenging time for local government but I would stress that we are achieving reductions in a planned way.

“Unlike the situation in many other councils, our budget proposals do not involve the closure of any council facilities like libraries, leisure or day centres and the annual spending of £22 million with the voluntary and community sector will continue.”

A very positive outcome of the budget is that the council will again be undertaking an extensive programme of work to improve the East Riding’s infrastructure and facilities such as schools, housing and roads.

Now worth more than £600 million across all years since the council’s inception in 1996, this investment in the capital programme is possible through successful bidding for funding and efficient use of the council’s resources.

Among the schemes proceeding in the coming year, with the help of Government funding, are the A164 Beverley/Humber Bridge improvements and the Beverley southern relief road.

Councillor Parnaby said: “As well as bringing about major improvements, the investment supports many local contractors and jobs and is a big boost to the local economy.”

NOTE – The 2012/13 council tax will be formally determined at the Council meeting on 22 February after the Humberside Police and Fired authorities have set their separate precepts. Town/parish council precepts are also added to the council tax.