Support from all parties for Budget which keeps tax down, saves services and invests in our future

Having written here previously about about our budget proposals - featuring an average council tax freeze, the protection of front line services and investment for the future - I'm pleased to report that at its meeting last week the Full Countil approved the plans with support from all parties, and not a single vote against. The budget is a product of our relentless commitment to saving services and keeping tax down in tough times, so it's obviously very pleasing that it has received this overwhelming endorsement.

Of course, crucial challenges lie ahead in ensuring the savings are delivered, while the task of identifying further savings is a continuous one. However, hard-pressed local households will be pleased that our third consecutive average council tax freeze has been confirmed, while our record of protecting front-line services in the face of major cuts to the Council's funding and other financial pressures continues.

These are extraordinarily tough times financially for the council. That may be a frequently-repeated phrase, but what it means in reality for this budget for the coming financial year is a requirement for almost another £10 million in savings just to balance the books and set a legal budget. These savings are on top of the savings we have had to make over recent years, with the effects of a large cut in government funding, inflation, rising demand and more only serving to make the task bigger and bigger each year.

But we have been adamant that we must do all we can to avoid passing costs on to hard-pressed local households. That's why we have driven out the savings to allow us to freeze average council tax once more. We have also frozen car park charges yet again in support of shoppers and local businesses, for example.

We are also protecting the most vulnerable in our communities through this budget. Other, neighbouring areas are effectively increasing tax bills for the poorest people from nothing to up to over £400 under new arrangements replacing the former council tax benefit. We have emphatically rejected such an approach and are ensuring that those most in need contnue re receive the right support under the new system.