Council seeks views as it prepares new budget

Residents are being urged to have their say as Rossendale Council starts the budget setting process for 2020/21.

Over the last few years, the Council has been hit by significant cuts to its central government grants.

It has meant the Council has had to generate additional income locally, mainly through increased business rates and Council tax revenue.

The cuts have had a significant impact on services. But despite this the Council has still managed to achieve lots of things that have improved the borough.

The Council tax you pay to Rossendale Borough Council is shared between the borough and county councils, Lancashire Fire and Rescue and Lancashire Police. As a borough council we retain less than 15p in every pound paid. The majority of your Council tax goes to Lancashire County Council (71p), which has responsibility for social care.

The Council uses its budget to meet its three priorities: building a more prosperous Rossendale, a cleaner and greener Rossendale and a healthier and more vibrant Rossendale.

Councillor Andrew Walmsley, portfolio holder for resources, said:

“It’s no secret that we have been through tough times because of budget cuts and there is no indication yet that will change. We, have just received the local government finance settlement for next year and it’s in line with our expectation so we are still projecting a gap. We also don’t know what the outcome is of the government’s fair funding review.

“As always, we are seeking ideas and views from residents about how we should prioritise our spending.

“Despite the tough budget challenges over the last few years, we have still manage to achieve a lot and there is lots of things to be excited about.

“Our economic development work has seen us work with Rossendale businesses to help them expand as well as enticing new businesses into the borough.
“We have managed to bring in significant pots of money to fund work to improve our town centres. And we are still delivering high quality services.

“The cost to households for all the services Rossendale provides is, on average, about £3 a week.

“This pays for things like collecting bins, tackling fly tipping, maintaining and making our parks better, improving housing, developing the economy, planning, public protection and working with community groups and others to make a real difference to the borough.

We will continue to fight for funding and investment for our town centres, deliver big projects and continue working with partners to improve the borough we love.”

The budget setting process starts with a meeting of the overview and scrutiny committee in February before being submitted to Cabinet. It will then be presented to full Council for a final decision.

The Council would welcome any feedback to its budget proposals by writing to:

The Head of Finance
Room 211
The Business Centre
Futures Park
Bacup
OL13 0BB

or emailing budget@rossendalebc.gov.uk

Plans will be discussed by members of the overview and scrutiny committee (3rd February 2020) before being submitted to Cabinet and then full Council for a final decision.