Issued: 17 February 2010
Investing in Angus' Future
Council tax in Angus has been frozen for a fourth year. Band D council tax remains at £1072, excluding water charges, for 2010/11.
Corporate Services convener Mark Salmond said the Angus Alliance budget was one that invested in Angus' future, with education and infrastructure at the top of the agenda.
"The freeze in council tax is good news for residents but it does come at a cost with savings of £4.4m having to be found to balance the budget.
"Despite these budgetary pressures we have managed to increase the cash in the special roads, property, IT and recreation funds by £1.4m to a record £7.8m with careful use of the General Fund Balances."
Councillor Salmond said £5.8m of the £7.8m special funds would be used to help tackle the extensive road repairs needed following the big freeze.
"Investment in the roads network had been a budget priority for years but following the most severe winter weather for decades this year it is a necessity. We have responded to this critical situation by putting an additional £2m into the overall 2010/11 roads budget.
"This will bring the total investment in the county's road network to a record £14m for the coming year."
Turning to Education the convener said: "There is no greater investment in Angus' future than the education of its young people so in this year's budget we've made every effort to protect the education budget in the savings round and have provided an extra £500k to help meet our concordat obligations for class size reduction, enhanced provision of free school meals and extended nursery education.
"Unlike other authorities we have met the unexpected £450k of new costs arising from the legislative changes to teachers' statutory holiday entitlements from the mainstream budget rather that put that burden onto schools."
Councillor Salmond said the capital budget for 2010/11 would deliver a £32m investment in Angus' future.
"This will deliver record levels of investment across services the length and breadth of Angus including schools, care facilities, leisure provision and the road network. These essential projects are an investment in our communities and will provide employment for many local contractors and businesses over the next few years."
Other measures and projects highlighted in the budget include:
- £450,000 for older people's services
- £300,000 into foster care
- an additional £700K investment in waste and street cleaning provision
- proposed £450k development of the Signal Tower Museum
- the creation of an £80,000 Local Improvement Fund - £10,000 per council ward for the delivery of smaller one-off community projects identified through the local community planning partnerships
- £500k for the recreation special fund - an increase of £100k from the previous year
- An additional £20k for the increasingly popular Community Grants Scheme, making over £200k available in 2010/11
Angus Council leader Bob Myles said the imminent clampdown on public sector funding meant responsible long term budget planning was the only way to address the county's needs.
"There is no value in short term gain if it brings long term pain. We have to budget responsibly and creatively and not take on a debt burden that would take away the flexibility we will need to deal with the lean years ahead," said councillor Myles.
The council leader said he believed that Angus' strong financial stewardship had put it ahead of the game. "For example for the third year running, we have allocated monies from the current revenue budget to capital projects - as a result we have avoided borrowing £2.4m and will ultimately save around £5 million in debt repayment costs. To my mind that is a sensible way of getting the most out of the money we have.
"It is a continuation of this responsible long term approach that I believe will help protect Angus' services in the difficult years to come."
The 2010/11 council tax bands for Angus are as follows:
| Band | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010/11 | £714.67 | £833.78 | £952.89 | £1072 | £1,310.22 | £1,548.44 | £1,786.67 | £2,144 |
A copy of the convener's budget speech is available at www.angus.gov.uk/budget2010