Cheshire East Council has voted to freeze Council Tax for the second year running – while boosting spending on services for vulnerable children and adults.
The decision comes despite the continued reductions in government grants, increasing cost pressures and potential changes to the Council's funding arrangements.
The freeze in the authority's Council Tax will be facilitated by a grant of £4.5m from central Government, which will be held in the authority's cash reserves to support future spending.
A meeting of the full Council voted through the proposed Council Tax (Thursday, February 23) along with the Council's new-look Business Plan.
This document moves away from the traditional way of reporting separately the Council's Budget for the coming year and its corporate priorities. It now combines everything in one document to show clearly its ambitions and available resources.
The planned spending on Council services (gross spending on services, less income from fees and charges) for 2012/13 is £553m. This is £33m lower than the previous year's figure of £586m.
The Cheshire East Band D Council Tax will remain unchanged at £1,216.34.
Business Plan measures include:
This addresses the issue of the unparished towns of Macclesfield and Crewe, which charge no town or parish precepts for those discretionary local services which are paid for by all Cheshire East Council Tax payers.
Audlem Online adds: "We wait with bated breath to find out what Audlem's share of the £0.2M grant to town and parish councils will be".
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