Stratford-on-Avon District Councillors have unanimously set the district element of the council tax in the Stratford-on-Avon District, at a full meeting of the Council on Monday 23 February with no increase in the District's share of the council tax for another year.
The average Band D figure for Stratford-on-Avon District Council households for the 2015/16 financial year remains the same at £128.05, with a net reduction over the last five years.
This means that all the services provided by the District Council are only costing £2.46 per week for a Band D household for a wide range of services including recycling and waste collection, planning, street sweeping, housing, housing benefits, leisure services and children's play areas.
The council tax from Stratford-on-Avon District Council for residents for each of the valuation bands is:
A £85.37
B £99.59
C £113.82
D £128.05
E £156.51
F £184.96
G £213.42
H £256.10
Cllr Chris Saint, Leader of the Council says: “We are delighted to be in a position to freeze council tax again despite receiving 13.4% (£639,650) less core government grant on top of the 41.5% (£2,630,661) reduction over the previous four years.
As we continue to juggle the mix of good news to accompany the constraints on expenditure, we have kept a watchful eye on effective efficient services. This is recognised in the citizen's panel statistics, with residents endorsing the value for money provided by the District Council rising from 81% to 91% in the past four years. We have studied all our budget proposals in detail and have been prudent with our spending plans.
Apart from the shared services currently undertaken, we have established joint IT working plus new joint Legal and Democratic Services with Cherwell and South Northants. We are budgeting for savings of some £200,000 a year through joint working. There are reducing capital balances, but no new projects are planned apart from the unavoidable rolling programmes like ICT hardware and software, or planned maintenance. S106 funding continues to be the major plank of developer contributions to infrastructure, but this will change once CIL policies are finalised and that income stream starts to flow. The District Council has had no borrowing requirement for many years, whilst still undertaking some very worthwhile projects and this budget should not require any Capital borrowing during the next five years.
Above all, this budget protects important expenditure and looks critically at how we manage the future, preparing ourselves for some difficult choices ahead.
The District Council has a strong track record of delivering savings, year on year whist maintaining key services. Any new expenditure is financed by accumulated savings, increases in other income streams and reducing budgets where there has been an overprovision in the past. This budget seeks to protect valued services, but maintains a sustainable position for the future. It is robust and contains modest but sustainable changes."
