Major efficiency savings means a rise of only 2.5% in Council Tax
Worcester City Council agreed its budget and Council Tax rate for 2010-2011 at a meeting of Full Council last night. The headline decisions were:
- Efficiency savings of over £1.5m over the next five years arsing from the sharing of three major services with neighbouring councils
- A yearly increase in the City Council’s share of Council Tax of only 2.5% (£3.51 or a Band C property): less than 1p per day for most households
- A Net Revenue Budget of £13.600m for 2010-11 to deliver our services
- Capital Investment of £11.878m over the next five years in schemes such as riverside improvements and the development of Gheluvelt Park
- Freezing car parking charges for the year
- Funding £50,000 towards the continued monitoring of Worcester’s CCTV network
- Funding of £52,000 for city centre improvements
The efficiency savings will arise from three services:
- Environmental Health (as part of shared Regulatory Services)
- Property Services
- Internal Audit (with Worcester City acting as the host for the shared Internal Audit service)
The last three months has seen considerable consultation on these services as part of the Worcestershire Enhanced Two Tier (WETT) programme. The shared service arrangements will provide the same high quality service but at a lower cost, and in the case of Regulatory Services are subject to the establishment of an implementation plan and the agreement of clear standards that will deliver the quality of service that the council requires.
The WETT Programme has been recognised nationally alongside the recently approved Museums Shared Service (between County and City Councils) as an example of good practice, and learning from the Programme is to be shared with councils around the country.
Councillor Simon Geraghty, Leader of the Council, commented:
“This year’s Budget review has been a great success. After the trauma of last year’s Budget, with major reductions in spending, we have got our finances back on track. This is despite all the challenges that the recession has thrown at us, and a government grant increase of only 0.5%. Our stable position is a credit to all who have helped us deliver services with very little reduction in quality and performance, but with significantly less money.
By working more closely with our neighbouring authorities we will realise even more savings which means we can keep our Council tax increase this year to only 2.5% and freeze car parking charges – recognising the impact the recession has had on residents and local businesses.
Given the risk around potential reductions in Government Grant and income, the Council plans to considerably bring forward the review of the Medium Term Financial Strategy in 2010 to the summer period. This will represent a considerable improvement in the way we plan and will enable us to respond to the evolving national government policy on how local government fits within the predicted contraction of overall public expenditure.“
