Suffolk: Council Tax Frozen For Third Year

14 February 2013, 17:14 | Updated: 14 February 2013, 17:18

Its the third year running that the amount taken by the council for its services has stayed the same.

County councillors debated the authority’s 2013/14 budget for two and a half hours this afternoon, before making the decision which means Suffolk residents will not pay any more than they did in 2010/11 for county council services.

The Council have saved £25 million in the last year, and still need to save £25 million. This is how they say they'll be able to do it:

• Council-wide efficiency savings and cutting bureaucracy - £9.7 million.
• Intervening earlier in adult care to save on care at a later stage (which is more expensive) - £7 million.
• Targeting resources in children’s services to reduce demand - £2.5 million.
• Re-letting the county’s highways maintenance contract - £2 million.**
• Reducing office accommodation by co-locating staff - £1.3 million.
• Working with district and borough councils to reduce the cost of waste services - £0.8 million.
• Cutting management costs - £0.5 million.

Councillor Jane Storey, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member for finance, said:

“The savings that we have agreed are significant and will require continued firm management in 2013/14 and future years.

“Last year we made a commitment to focus savings on the back office to protect, as far as possible, the front line. This budget delivers on that commitment.

“Tough decisions have had to be made to address the speed at which funding has been withdrawn from the county council. Looking forward, it seems that further reductions will be coming our way.