Council tax to be frozen for second year running
Archived press release
Date Published: 02/02/12
AVDC offices
Aylesbury Vale District Council has voted to freeze council tax for the second year running.
The freeze has been made possible by a one-off grant from the government, which is being offered to all local authorities that do not increase their council tax in 2012/13.
It will mean the district council element of residents’ total council tax bill will remain at £131.07 for an average Band D property – which is the equivalent of just £2.52 a week. This helps pay for a wide range of services including housing support, planning, refuse and recycling services and street cleaning.
In developing a budget for the 2012/13 financial year, the council has had to find £2.6 million in savings from its £18 million revenue budget due to reduced government funding and pressures such as the increased cost of utilities (fuel and electricity). This saving is needed on top of the £1.2 million savings delivered to balance the 2011/12 budget. In 2013/14, the council will need to save at least another £1 million to balance the books.
An array of saving solutions have been approved by councillors to allow the council to have a balanced budget position for the next financial year.
The agreed savings solutions include:
• Reducing back-office costs with limited effect on front-line services, in a range of areas, saving £300,000
• Slimming down of management, with limited impact on front-line services, creating a saving of £267,000
• Combining horticultural and street cleansing services from January 2013, which should result in ongoing savings of about £200,000 a year
• Replacing the council’s cash office services with new more convenient ways to pay bills, which will create a saving of around £50,000 per year
One of the ways in which the council can offset cuts is to increase its income, so some fees and charges for services will increase from 1 April. There will be modest increases in car parking charges in Aylesbury, Buckingham and Wendover to help minimise the impact of reduced government funding on key services.
Introducing a £1 flat fee for parking on Sundays and public holidays in Aylesbury is one of the recommendations agreed by full council. AVDC is not the first authority locally to introduce Sunday charges. At present, Milton Keynes and High Wycombe charge on Sundays, as does Banbury, Bicester and Hemel Hempstead.
All of the budget savings were considered by the council’s scrutiny committees over many months as part of the budget setting process and their views have been reflected in the final proposals presented to full council.
To deliver the budget savings that will be required for 2013/14 and beyond the council plans to continue reviewing all the services it provides on an ongoing basis to seek opportunities for increased revenue and additional savings to protect frontline services.
Councillor John Cartwright, Leader of the Council, said: “We are doing everything we can to reduce the costs of providing services and find savings in order to meet our two main goals – providing value for money services and keeping council tax as low as possible. In Aylesbury Vale, we’re very proud to be one of the lowest charging district councils in the country. A Band D taxpayer contributes £131.07 a year to AVDC – the 37th lowest rate among more than 200 districts. The national average is £160, and the highest £310. This shows that we offer great value for money.
“Despite a huge savings target set for us by the government, we have managed to balance the books with very few reductions in services for 2012/13. Accepting the government’s freeze grant creates a bigger target for us in 2013/14 and we will need to look at all the services the council provides, but I am confident that we will find the savings we need whilst protecting the services that are important to people. In holding down council tax for another year, we have recognised the financial pressure that many of our residents are under right now.”
Although AVDC collects the council tax, it only keeps about 10 per cent of the total bill. The rest is passed to other service providers, such as the county council, police and fire services, and local parish and town councils.