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Proud record of freezing Council Tax continues for fourth year

It is thanks to staff and Councillors working together that we can again deliver efficiencies to help produce a balanced budget where once again we can freeze Council Tax
Councillor Garry Wheatley

South Norfolk Council has said it is proud of its record of freezing Council Tax as it prepares to do so again - for the fourth time in five years.

If the recommendation to Cabinet is agreed on Monday (6 February), it will go to Full Council for final approval meaning that people living in an average band D home will only have to pay £130.68p (or £2.51p a week) for South Norfolk Council's own services.

Council Leader John Fuller said the freeze would again help families and individuals balance their household budgets in difficult economic times.

At the same time, the Council is strengthening its reserves to protect services from future financial pressures, freezing many service charges and is investing in commercial premises to get the local economy moving.

The Council's proposals for a pilot project to give local neighbourhoods a say in how money from housing growth is spent in their areas is set to put it at the cutting edge of delivering localism in England.

And the Council has again delivered a balanced Budget thanks to the work of staff and Councillors which has delivered efficiency savings and increased income of £997,000, building on work in previous years, and plans to drive out further efficiencies in the coming year.

Councillor Garry Wheatley, Cabinet Member for Corporate Resources, who will be leading the Budget debate in Cabinet, said:

"It is thanks to staff and Councillors working together that we can again deliver efficiencies to help produce a balanced budget and where once again we can freeze Council Tax bills for South Norfolk Council services for the fourth time in five years.

"While many other councils are going to their reserves to pay for services, we are strengthening and investing in ours in preparation for even tougher years to come.

"At the same time we are investing in our district through the new homes bonus, so that those communities which are taking new homes and jobs growth see the benefits of that growth.

"And our pilot plan to give communities a say in how that money is spent in their neighbourhoods makes us one of the few Councils at the leading edge of delivering the localism agenda. We urge local people to go to our website at www.south-norfolk.gov.uk, get the dates of the key neighbourhood meetings and get involved in this exciting project."

He added:

"Not only are we freezing Council Tax but we are freezing many of our charges for services, including for car parking so as to support retail businesses in our flourishing market towns. We are also investing in enterprise and jobs, by developing new business centre or revamping existing ones bringing them up to scratch so we can generate more jobs for local people."

Despite substantial reductions in Government grant funding, South Norfolk Council's success in delivering housing growth has meant it has received nearly £787,157 this year in a new homes bonus - and £1,707,169 in New Homes Bonus for 2012/13.

This money will be used to protect front line services meeting the increased demand this housing growth brings, and provide the opportunity for neighbourhoods to be more involved in influencing how services are delivered.

With the new housing comes the need for infrastructure and the Community Infrastructure Levy - money from developers to plough back into community schools, medical centres, roads etc.

However, this will not be implemented until 2014, and growing communities need infrastructure sooner, so South Norfolk Council has announced a programme of capital grants funding worth £200,000 to help support it.

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