Council pledges no cuts to services

6:31pm Monday 11th February 2008

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Wyre Borough Council has pledged to ensure no cuts in public services during the next year as it finalises its budget for the next twelve months.

As the council prepares to consider its council tax figure for 2008/09, council leader Councillor Russell Forsyth has stated that work by the council to achieve savings in its budget will now help it to successfully maintain all key service ares during the next year.

Coun Forsyth said "We have been working on delivering a balanced budget for 2008/09 and that work has now paid off.

"I am very confident that we will deliver a budget that will contain no cuts in service areas and will stay within the government's guidelines for council tax increases.

"A number of savings have been achieved with the support of my cabinet colleagues, officers and the budget task group - a group of members specifically chosen to help improve our budgetary position.

"We are thus able to keep spending levels down whilst maintaining services at the highest standard.

"This has been a great achievement that has built on the successful approach of previous years."

He adds: "Through our consultation and planning processes we know what matters to people and have made sure that those priorities continue to be delivered.

"We are already aware that in future years there will be some significant additional spending needs, and the government are expecting annual efficiency savings of three per cent.

"We know that there will be difficult decisions but we will make sure that we are in a strong financial position to meet those commitments."

The final decision about next year's Council Tax level will be made at the council meeting on March 6.