CLLR STANLEY'S FULL BUDGET SPEECH

8.06.00pm GMT Fri 29th Feb 2008

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to present my budget to you today. The proposals I am making on behalf of the Cabinet are intended to continue our policy of targeting resources to the highest priority areas and making saving where they will hurt least. I'm sure that you, and other members of the Council, will be happy to support the proposals that I am making to you. I have, as usual, circulated to all members copies of the bound document which contains a copy of this speech. Additionally, the book contains many detailed tables analysing the budget. I shall refer to a number of those tables during the afternoon.

Review of the Year

As always, let me start my speech with a look back at some of the successes of the last twelve months.

Last year I commented on the outstanding performance of our recycling programme, which had virtually doubled the level of recycling in each of the last three years. Having already reached 38% it was, perhaps, expecting too much to think that we may have another large increase this year. We are, however, predicting a further increase in the recycling rate to 45%, thanks to a programme of promotion, publicity and education and the support of the over 90% of residents of Cannock Chase who now participate in recycling. Last April we became the first Council in Staffordshire to introduce in-vessel composting. This meant that residents could put cardboard and kitchen waste into their brown bins, which both improved the quality of our service and increased the level of recycling, by making an "every week" service available for the worst items of waste.

The Council has received a number of awards in the last year. These included:

A commendation from Bacs for the increase in our Council Tax Direct Debit take up.

The Chase Leisure Centre and Golf Course achieving Quest Accreditation with a score of 79%, putting the management of the facility in the top 4% of leisure centres in the country, top in Staffordshire and the joint highest scoring in the West Midlands, despite the poor state of the facilities, and,

The Council's PR & Marketing team receiving a "Commended" award at the national Local Government Communications Reputation Awards, 2007, where CCDC was recognised among the councils that had provided the best examples of implementing the reputation project.

The Housing service again did well in the National Home Improvement Council Awards, achieving first place for Gas Maintenance and second place for Electrical Safety. The Council's Street Warden team has worked closely with primary schools in the area to develop and deliver a Junior Warden course that has received favourable comments from Ofsted Inspectors. The team has successfully completed two pilot schemes in Rugeley and a Student Warden course is now being rolled out at one high school in Cannock. Further funding of £25,000 has been successfully obtained from Community Pride to support and extend this scheme over the next 12 months.

A success that this Council should be particularly proud of is the 'Chase It' scheme. This was first introduced in July 2003 and is an ongoing multi-projects programme that looks to tackle a range of social issues through the medium of sport and active recreation. It is delivered by Cannock Chase District Council in partnership with other key agencies in the District including South Staffordshire Primary Care Trust, Family Focus, Scope, Mencap and Jigsaw. The programme consists of a series of great days out such as 'Kids on Bikes', sports coaching and a range of physical activities. It is particularly targeted at engaging those young people with a range of access issues including:

Those with a disability/special need.

Mental health issues.

Families on benefits.

The Council has been successful in obtaining over £250,000 during the last four years from the Children's Fund in support of 'Chase It', with a further £106,000 recently won for the period from 1 April 2008 - 31 March 2010.

In recognition of its achievements 'Chase It', in competition with nine other local authorities, received the Staffordshire nomination for the BBC Power of Sport Award 2007.

Finally, I could not end this whistle-stop tour of our achievements without referring to the momentum that is now gathering behind our project to bring the Council's leisure facilities into the 21st century. Rugeley Swimming Pool is now well under way, and is due to open this spring. The Heritage Trail and museum extension are close to completion. The development at Blake Valley Technology College has now received approval by both the County and the School Governors; and planning permission has been granted for the Stadium site. Six tennis courts have been refurbished at Cannock Park with new tennis facilities being provided at Ravenhill Park. In addition, the Council has recently agreed a way forward for the Old Hednesford Parkland after a decade of attempts, which will see environmental improvements and structured activities on this site in the coming financial year.

And this is only a short selection of our many successes in the last year.

Statutory Consultees

As we turn from last year's successes to the budget for future years, let me advise you that we have received no comment or observation from Statutory Consultees.

"Delivering Change"

This year we have again continued with the process which has been christened "Delivering Change". The main objective of this process has been to ensure that the Council's budget reflects, as far as possible, its policy priorities. There has, however, been a major change to the process. Budget setting has often in the past been seen as a bit of a secretive "Black art" whereby nothing is revealed until the last possible minute. This year, we have opened up the process to the public and other consultees to a much greater extent by announcing at January's Cabinet meeting the things that had been put forward for consideration and consultation for possible inclusion within the budget. This has allowed for a much wider and more informed debate.

The outcome of these consultations were reported to Cabinet last week, and the budget proposals have been refined by considering the original proposals alongside both the comments received from consultees and other emerging issues.

As I unveil the details of the budget this afternoon you will see where we have listened to the views of our consultees, and produced a budget that clearly meets the public's needs and expectations.

The procedure has, as usual, involved officers and members throughout the Council in formulating budget proposals, together with the Scrutiny Committee. This year for the first time, the Shadow Cabinet have been given official recognition within the Council's constitution and has had the opportunity to comment on the various policy options proposed. As a result of this comprehensive process I am confident that the budget that I am presenting to you today reflects the Council's major policy priorities.

Housing Revenue Account (HRA)

I will start my presentation of our proposals for next year with the Housing Revenue Account.

Members will see that this budget is one of positive support for social housing, and allows a base from which to further develop this sector within the District.

Members are recommended to:

Determine a minimum level of working balances of £828,000 throughout the three year budget period.

Approve revenue contributions to the capital programme of £1,140,000 in 2008-09, £1,010,000 in 2009-10 and £706,000 in 2010-11.

Approve the proposed HRA budget as set out in Table 6 of the Leader's Budget Statement.

HRA Capital Programme

Turning to housing capital, the achievement of the decent homes standard remains a priority for the Council. The three year period of this budget will see around £24 million invested in our housing stock to bring all properties up to the decent homes standard by 2010 and maintain it beyond. This budget also contains funding to continue to deal with the problems of the so called "PRC" houses at the Bevan Lee Estate, Elizabeth Road and other areas.

The Council is recommended to approve the proposed HRA Capital Programme as set out in Table 12 of the Budget Statement.

General Fund Capital Programme

I would like to turn now to our recommendations for the General Fund Capital Programme.

The programme I am proposing is, without doubt, the largest three year programme ever considered by this Council and possibly the biggest being considered by any District in the Country. While there is a wide range of project within the programme, I would like to focus on two main areas.

Firstly, this programme starts to deliver on our commitment to social housing. A partnership is already under way to deliver rented housing units on the former Cornwall House and Cherry Tree House sites. Future years will see further developments to address the District's affordable housing needs, including a number of garage sites which are now largely unused and have been identified for sale.

Secondly, our leisure redevelopment programme is now provided for. To put the scale of our proposed developments into context, the Government has recently put great sway on their programme to invest £30 million in sports colleges to improve sports provision across the whole country. I would like to point out to members that we are proposing to spend virtually the same amount in Cannock Chase alone!

With planning approval for the Stadium site and the adjacent land now secured and the formal support of our partners in the project to provide state of the art facilities at Blake Valley Technology College now confirmed, the momentum behind this project has now reached a critical level. With the sale of the Stadium site later in the year, all the pieces will be in place for the most exciting development project this District has ever seen.

Our programme includes:

Rugeley Swimming Pool

Developments at Blake Valley Technology College, Hednesford

Additional football pitches at Heath Hayes Park

Improvements to football pitches at Hednesford Park

The Cannock Leisure Village

A new, modern theatre to replace the Prince of Wales

The Chase Heritage Trail, and

Improvements at Old Hednesford Parkland

I must remind members that this programme would not be possible without the money to be raised from the land at and adjacent to the Stadium. Without those funds, the Council would have to return to a policy of "do nothing" leading to closures, or at best "patch and mend" The Council is recommended to approve the proposed General Fund Capital Programme as set out in Table 8 of the Budget Statement.

In addition to the above developments, over £2 million more is being invested in the area as a result of Section 106 monies. Some examples of our plans are:

Almost £50,000 for landscaping at Milking Brook Valley.

Relocation of play areas at Arthur Street and Sandy Lane and the refurbishment of 6 other play areas at a total investment of around £300,000.

£27,000 for the refurbishment of the Paddling Pool at Ravenhill Park

The production and implementation of a Cannock Park Management Plan as a step to achieving Green Flag status, at a cost of £80,000.

General Fund Revenue Budget

I will now move to that part of the afternoon which has the greatest immediate effect on the public - the General Fund revenue budget and the setting of the Council Tax. There are no surprises in this budget - our proposals were announced last week - so I trust that members will have had sufficient time to consider all the issues and support the Cabinet's budget proposals. Our recommendations have been set out in Table 2, and its various sub-tables. I will highlight a few areas of interest.

Budget Pressures

There have been many pressures that we have had to deal with in setting this budget.The revenue support grant payable from the government has increased at a level well below inflation over the three year period of the budget.

Income continues to fall in a number of areas. The most marked of these are car park income, local land charges income and receipts at the Chase Leisure Centre and Golf Course. We have also made prudent contingencies against any delays in the sale of the Stadium land, which would cost the Council around £80,000 for each month's delay. The budget also includes provision for the leisure strategy.

The Council is also still awaiting the outcome of its dispute with the government, and the legal challenge that we have initiated regarding the Business Growth Incentive Scheme. While other Council's have had grants of, in some cases, over a million pounds, Cannock Chase continues to have nothing. I hope that this situation can be brought to an early conclusion, and funding will be available from this source to reduce future budget pressures.

Service Development

Turning now to service development, we are looking to invest over £¾ million into the three year budget to improve the quality of services provided by the Council.

Firstly, we have listened to the outcome of the public consultation and put money into tackling anti-social behaviour. This investment of around £80,000 over the three years will continue our drive to address the issues of community safety which are regularly identified by our residents as a top priority. This continues the trend of investing in community safety which has been a feature of our recent budgets, and follows the expansion of the Street Warden service approved last year.

A further public priority for improvement of the environment is expenditure on "streetscene". This has also been a Cabinet priority, with additional funding put into this area in virtually all of our previous budgets. This time we have enhanced the three year budget by a sum close to £200,000 for developments in this area, which should make further significant inroads to the improvement of the District's environment. In particular, this year sees us getting tough with the causes of environmental decay, and the offenders that cause it. Resources are being provided to target, and where possible fine, those responsible for throwing litter from cars, fly tipping, "boy racing", dog fouling and other offenders that foul the environment. In addition we will be seeking a prevention campaign by, for example, the use of litter control areas and street litter control notices.

Last December saw the end of the contract which has improved the Christmas Lighting in all our towns so much in recent years. This budget makes the funds to pay for the contract a permanent feature from now on, so that the lights can now be maintained at the recent high standard.

Other major developments include £90,000 to improve the speed of processing planning applications, £24,000 to help tackle the growing problem of fuel poverty, almost £50,000 for improved housing advice and £80,000 for recycling initiatives which will save landfill costs and avoid landfill penalties at a cost of £150 per tonne.

We are also aware of the precarious financial position of the District's two Citizens' Bureaus Bureaux. Their long term funding is currently under review by the Council's Scrutiny Committee but, as an interim measure pending the outcome of that review, we are proposing to increase the grant to both organisations by 10% over the rate of inflation. This reinstates one of the two 10% cuts in funding made by the previous administration and, subject to the outcome of the Scrutiny review, we will be looking to increase their grants further next year. A full list of proposals is set out at Table 2a.

In addition to these proposals, I am pleased to be able to report that increased partnership working is continuing to bring benefits for the residents of Cannock Chase. Working with the Primary Care Trust through the Local Strategic Partnership we will be introducing a number of new initiatives. These will include the provision of free swimming sessions for children at both of the District's swimming pools during the school summer holidays, and the introduction of free use of the Council's 11 tennis courts throughout the year. In addition it will be possible to guarantee the continuation of the shop-mobility scheme, once the trial periods have proved to be successful. These initiatives will contribute to improved health and fitness, will increase social inclusion and also provide the opportunities for more people, particularly young people to make use of our facilities.

Savings

Development, unfortunately, can only come at a price. Included at Table 2b is a list of savings we have reluctantly had to make in order to balance the budget. I am, however, confident that following the "policy-led" process that has been used this year we are making the right decisions in redirecting expenditure towards the Council's and the public's highest priorities.

I cannot leave this area, however, without pointing out the factors that lie behind some of the choices of savings options. There are two areas which stand out where, although the provision of the service itself may be considered worthwhile, usage levels and their impact on value for money mean that we would be negligent in allowing them to continue unaddressed.

The first is the crèche at Chase Leisure Centre. We first looked at the crèche a few years ago, when average usage was projected at around 5,500 child sessions per annum at a cost of £35,000 - a subsidy of £6.35 per child per session. Usage has now dropped below 13 child sessions per week with costs increasing to £44,000 per annum, resulting in a tenfold increase in the Council's subsidy to £66.41 per child per session. This clearly cannot be allowed to continue.

Secondly, the subsidy per player for use of the Council's bowling greens is higher still.

The Council currently subsidises each player by around £113 per player, or £226 for a two player game. The figures are even higher if the two greens at Hednesford Park are considered on their own, where the Council subsidises each two player game by over £900! We are proposing to address this situation by closing 3 of the Council's bowling greens. One green will continue to be provided at Cannock to meet the needs of clubs and casual users. The overall average subsidy will be reduced by almost 70%

Economic Development

Previous year's budgets have identified sums from Section 106 Funds available for economic development within the District. We are planning to continue with this policy and invest the sums set out in Table 2c to continue with the regeneration of the District.

Planning Delivery Grant

Table 2d sets out our forward projection of spending from the Planning Delivery Grant to improve the provision of planning services to all of our residents.

Council Tax 2008-09

I thank you all for listening patiently to what I have had to say. I have now come finally to the Cabinet's recommendations for the level of Council Tax being proposed for 2008-09. The Director of Governance report sets out the potential Council Tax for this Council at various levels of spending. The recommendations that I have presented to you today would result in net spending for 2008-09 of £14,341,000, which after taking into account Use of Balances and Reserves, results in a Budget Requirement for Council Tax purposes of £13,842,027

In terms of Council Tax this results in a Band D Tax of £184.44, an increase of just 8 pence per week (2.4%), which we understand to be the lowest percentage increase in Staffordshire, and the lowest increase for Cannock Chase in this century!

Indicative increases for future years are, unfortunately, higher at 5% for each year and reflect the reduction in government support in 2009-10 and 2010-11. increase increase should be regarded as indicative only and will be subject to a full review and potential amendment this time next year. It must be remembered, however, that we began consultation at an indicative increase of 5% for this year.

Precepts have been received from the County Council, the Police Authority, the Fire Authority and the various Parish Councils. The calculation of Band D Council Tax figures for each are included at Tables 14 and 15. This indicates that the Band D Council Tax to be set in un-parished areas, would be calculated as £1,399.28, an increase overall of £51.20 (3.80%), with this Council's share increasing by just £4.32 (2.4%).

We are confident that the modest level of increase being proposed for the District Council will avoid any threat of "capping" with the unwelcome consequences of having to bear the significant costs of rebilling. Should any of the other authorities for whom we collect Council Tax be capped, we will ensure that the full cost of rebilling will be charged to them. Whilst it is normal to quote Council Tax levels at Band D, this disguises the fact that most houses in this District are in Bands A-C. I have included in the printed version of this speech a table setting out the proposed Council Tax increase for each banding level.

No of Properties Council Tax Increase

£

A- 48 2.40

A 13,494 2.88

B 12,414 3.36

C 7,184 3.84

D 4,459 4.32

E 1,635 5.28

F 557 6.24

G 252 7.20

H 7 8.64

Conclusion

Finally, Chairman, I would like to place on record my thanks to all members and officers of the Council for their consistently responsible and professional assistance in the preparation of this budget, but especially to the Head of Financial Management, his staff and those other largely unseen "support" staff, for their expertise and advice which is readily available to all members.

Recommendations

I therefore move the recommendations numbered 1 to 11, which I have circulated to members, for adoption. I apologise for their complex nature, which is a function of the legal process of setting the Council Tax.

Councillor Neil Stanley

Leader of the Council