HYNDBURN LEADER'S BUDGET STATEMENT 2016

Once again, this year and now for the seventh time in a row, it has been possible to set a Budget for all of the Council’s operations that will not require a Council Tax increase for Hyndburn Council services. So, from April 2016 you will continue to only have to pay what you were paying back in 2009/10.

This is a remarkable achievement by the Council, as Government reductions in funding continue to put all council’s under severe financial pressure and pressures on expenditure continue to rise as more people require help from Council services in these difficult times and costs continue to rise through inflationary pressures.

We are now one of a handful of councils that by good financial management continue to be able to freeze our council tax. As well as freezing council tax increases again this year, we remain committed to protecting front-line services wherever we can and delivering improved value for money throughout all council services, but particularly in our back office functions and this has meant that the vast majority of the £870,000 of savings we have identified for 2016/17 are coming from non-public facing departments.

While we continue to face the challenge of less money from Central Government this year to help run our services and the prospect that in a few years’ time we will receive no funding from Government whatsoever, we remain committed to improving the whole local area.

This year we will be investing for the first time £600,000 into Rishton to help transform one of the key streets in the town and boost the regeneration of this whole area. We will also be continuing with our investment into West Accrington and the Woodnook area of Accrington.

In May 2016 we expect to see the new Bus Station open in the centre of Accrington and once that has happened we will develop our plans to boost Accrington Town Centre with the development of a public square around the Market Hall and Town Hall, which will be followed by investment into the local retail offer, with grants to shops and local business owners to develop the façade of their buildings and undertake other work to enhance their properties and the look and feel of the Town Centre along Blackburn Road.

Providing the right services to local people has never been more difficult given the financial constraints we face, however we remain committed to the idea of keeping council tax low and delivering the best possible local services to our community that the money we have can provide.

Cllr Miles Parkinson
Leader of Hyndburn Borough Council