Budget proposes Teignbridge's fourth council tax freeze

Residents are encouraged to say whether they think Teignbridge has got its priorities right as the council moves forward with its draft budget plans.

People have the opportunity to tell the Council what they think after the Executive approved its initial financial plans for 2014/15 to 2016/17.

The draft budget proposes to freeze Council Tax for the fourth year in a row, carrying on with its popular free Sunday parking scheme in its own car parks and putting money into a pot specifically to help create more jobs and build new homes.

The initial financial proposals include: 

• A continued Council Tax freeze of Teignbridge’s portion of the bill, keeping the average Band D price for district council services at £150.17
• Maintaining reserves at £1.1million to cover any unexpected expenditure or reductions in income
• Retaining the Infrastructure Investment Fund, a pot of money which helps create more homes and jobs

The draft budget plan contains proposals to increase car parking income by an average of 5%. This does not mean charges will go up across all car parks.

Teignbridge carefully considered how to ease the impact on the paying public and is proposing to make small increases to charges at a number of long-stay car parks.

Residents and discounted permits, blue badge permits and short-stay prices all remain frozen at their current costs.
Details are still to be finalised and will form part of the public consultation and the final decision making process.

Cllr Stuart Barker, Teignbridge Executive Spokesperson for Assets and Resources said: “Chancellor George Osborne has warned that 2014 will be a year of hard truths and that means it will impact in Teignbridge.

“While there are small but positive signs the economy is improving, we still remain in a tough financial position. Next year we will be faced with similar ongoing challenges and we have been preparing for further significant funding reductions from Government, particularly in 2015/16.

“The proposed budget looks at making more savings, generating income and some increases in charges while continuing to support residents in a positive way.

“Again, we are not putting forward any rise in our share of the council tax – a freeze for the fourth year in a row – and we are retaining the Infrastructure Investment Fund which provides money for more homes and jobs.

“We are also continuing with our free Sunday parking scheme in our car parks – something which has provided great benefits to visitors, businesses and traders since we introduced it two years ago.

“The budgeted increase in car parking income of 5% is necessary to help us balance the books. We’ve also looked at where we can achieve this without it having too much of an impact on people’s purses by keeping charges the same for the most popular parking periods. Teignbridge remains one of the cheaper places compared to other local authorities.

“These proposals are not set in stone. The consultation period will help us make changes or amendments before we propose the final budget and we would encourage people to give any feedback at the earliest opportunity so we can consider any necessary changes and continue through the council’s committee process.”

The draft budget details savings already made by the Council and more are planned for years to come.

In 2013 the Council held a series of business challenge reviews aimed at saving £1.5 million within the next two years. This will be achieved through improving productivity and getting services to work jointly to drive efficiency savings.

A senior management review has reduced these overall costs by £400,000 a year ongoing.

At the same time Teignbridge has managed to protect those on the lowest income by making two changes to its Council Tax Reduction Scheme - how much Council Tax discount is given to residents.

From 1 April 2014 anyone with £6,000 or more in capital, savings or investments will not be entitled to Council Tax Support. From the same date, people living in a property valued at Band E or above will only be able to claim Council Tax Support based on the Council Tax charge of a Band D property.

Full Council approved the 2014/15 scheme for working age people at its meeting on Tuesday 14 January. It applies to around 315 claimants - about 2% of the district's benefits claimants.

Teignbridge introduced its own Council Tax Reduction scheme to replace Council Tax Benefit which was abolished in April 2013. Government cut the funding available for Council Tax benefits by 10%. Pensioners remain protected so are unaffected by these changes.

Teignbridge's draft budget plans are on its website. Residents are encouraged to leave feedback. Teignbridge is writing to parish and town councils asking for their comments. Businesses are being advised of the main budget and are invited to make their own comments.

The draft proposals remain moving through the committee process. They went before the Executive on January 7 and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday 14 January.

The proposals and responses will be considered by the Executive on 13 February. The final budget plan will go before Full Council on 21 February for a decision.

Residents can leave their feedback and make comments online through the Council’s website: www.teignbridge.gov.uk/consultation