Following yesterday’s council meeting, South Gloucestershire Council has agreed a budget of just over £170m for 2008/09.
Councillors met at Kingswood yesterday (Wednesday 20 February) and agreed to a 4.49 per cent increase in council tax.
This rise will mean the average band D property in South Gloucestershire will pay a council tax of £1,169.26. This represents an increase of £50 a year or under £1 a week for council services, compared to 2007/08.
Overall the council tax for South Gloucestershire is around the average for unitary authorities.
The budget provides for significant investment and improvements to many council services, including:
• £100k in community care to promote higher levels of independence and increase support for the vulnerable and elderly, with a further £300k invested in 2009/10 and £300k in 2010/11
• Over £1.2m for a transport concession scheme for young people aged 14 – 19-years-old; a consultation will be carried out first to seek the views of young people on how the scheme should operate, the scheme will come into effect in 2010/11
• Around £435k to improve secondary school pupil attainment in 2008/09, with a further £560k invested in 2009/10 and £560k in 2010/11
• An extra £93k will be invested over the next three years (2008/09 – 2010/11) to increase the number of plastic bottle recycling sites. Weekly food collections will be introduced at a cost of over £1M a year
• £220k will be invested next year and the years after, and £280k in 2010/11 to improve the appearance of communities, including anti-littering enforcement. It will also increase the frequency of gully emptying to reduce the risk of flooding
• £150k each year to provide for five extra police community support officers, starting in 2009/10
• Nearly £140k will be invested in improving CCTV monitoring over the next three years (2008/09 – 2010/11)
John Calway, the leader of the council, said: “I believe that this budget represents an excellent deal for the residents of South Gloucestershire. It is the third lowest council tax increase in the history of the council and I am very pleased that it has the support of councillors.
“There are significant investments in many services which reflect the priorities of the council, including extra support for the vulnerable and elderly in our communities to help make them more independent, a concessionary travel scheme to improve access for young people, funding to enhance results in secondary schools and extra resources for recycling to help the council reach the Government target of recycling 50 per cent of its waste 10 years ahead of time.”
Councillor Calway added: “We have worked hard to identify and implement efficiency savings so that resources can be redirected into frontline services, which is illustrated in the budget.”
At the council meeting, it was also agreed that an indicative council tax increases of 4.49 per cent will be planned for 2009/10 and 2010/11.
The council has introduced a special programme – ‘Fit for the Future’ – which will improve efficiency and deliver savings of around three per cent of the revenue budget each year, to be invested in frontline services.
The council consulted widely, receiving over 830 responses to a viewpoint panel consultation, before deciding on a council tax of 4.49 per cent.
In addition to its own budget requirements, the council is required to collect council tax on behalf of Avon and Somerset Police, parish and town councils where appropriate and Avon Fire and Rescue.
When council tax from Avon and Somerset Police, parish and town councils and Avon Fire and Rescue is taken into account, the average band D property in South Gloucestershire will pay a full council tax of £1,433.66, which represents an increase of 4.59 percent, which is equivalent to an extra £62.93 per year or around £1.21 per week, compared to 2007/08.
The council was recently rated as “performing well” in how it manages its finances by the Audit Commission. In the Commission’s ‘Use of Resources’ assessment published at the end of 2007, the Council was awarded an overall score of three out of four, demonstrating that it spends taxpayers’ money well.
The council received top marks (‘well above minimum requirements – performing strongly’) in five out of the 11 categories, including how ‘the council manages and improves value for money’ and how ‘the council manages its spending within the available resources.’ The council also received the second highest score (‘consistently above minimum requirements – performing well’) in four of the other categories.
ENDS