Councillor John Hatfield Portfolio Holder (Finance)	Councillor Brian Silvester Leader of the Council

VALUE FOR MONEY AND IMPROVING SERVICES

Our administration has continued to make excellent progress. Real improvements to Borough Council services have been made. For 2008/9 we have set a small increase in the Council Tax, of 2.75%, or just over 7 pence per week for a Band D tax payer, which is below the latest increase in the retail price index.

Our increase will be one of the lowest in the North West and we will have the third lowest Council Tax of all the shire districts in the North West. Even though there will be such a low increase we have been able to put forward additional revenue spending of £350,000 to improve services.

The capital spend in 2008/9 will be £7.2 million which is double what we will spend this year. And we have been able to do all this despite a real terms cut in Government funding.

Below are some examples of where this extra expenditure will be spent:

• There will be the introduction of free bus travel anywhere in England for the over 60's and the disabled. The Government has not fully funded the scheme and the Council Tax has to make up the substantial difference of £355,000.

• We are improving our car parks, creating two new ones in Nantwich and carrying out a feasibility study on the introduction of a park and ride scheme in Nantwich.

• As part of our major campaign to tackle crime and the scourge of anti social behaviour we are increasing the hours of coverage of CCTV, the major programme of alley gating will continue, the five PCSO's we are part funding are now in place, our Community Wardens will continue to do their good work and zones where alcohol consumption can be restricted will be introduced across most of the Borough.

• We have continued our commitment to encouraging more affordable homes and jobs in rural areas and maintained the grants to Parish Councils and Nantwich Town Council to alleviate double taxation.

• We are encouraging local residents to become more involved in decisions that affect their communities.  We support the creation of resident groups and Parish Plans.

• We have a strong commitment to making the Borough cleaner and greener. We have extended the green waste collection and the blitz team to the entire Borough, we are introducing a new refuse collection round and we have signed the Nottingham Agreement which emphasises our commitment to improve the local environment.

• We are returning Queens Park to its former glory with an investment of £6million, the new cemetery in Crewe will be opened this year and the BMX track and Skateboard Park at Tipkinder Park are proving to be a major success with our younger citizens.

• As well for our younger residents there is £27,000 for youth fund schemes in 2008/9, which is more than was spent in previous years, our Community and Sports Development team have obtained external funding of over half a million pounds for youth activities since May 2006 and in the capital programme there is £200,000 for youth and community projects. Our young people have never been better provided for.

• The transformation of Crewe town centre is making progress, consultation will start shortly on exciting developments in the Snow Hill area in Nantwich town centre and plans for the regeneration of the west end of Crewe have been announced.

When we were elected we promised to run the Council more effectively by improving service delivery and adding value. We believe we're keeping that promise and our external auditors agree that we're a 'good Council, with the right direction of travel'.

In fact, our rate of improvement exceeds that of the majority of other local authorities. Indeed, our Environmental Health and Planning services have been judged the most improved in the whole of the country.

Overall, when you take into account all the services we deliver, we are nineteenth most improved Council out of the 388 Councils in England. This is a remarkable achievement and a tribute to our staff. They have achieved this high level of performance despite their legitimate concerns about the Local Government Review and job evaluation.

It is a tragedy that a good Council like ours is to be abolished. However, until that happens, we will endeavour to deliver the quality services that residents rightly expect at a level of Council Tax that is reasonable.

A record to be proud of

The main aim of this administration is an affordable Council Tax, whilst maintaining and improving the basic services that matter to local residents. We have shown that this can be done by the Council working more efficiently and effectively and by better housekeeping.

Our administration has kept the Council Tax down and improved services. We have a record that we can be rightly proud of.

Contact:        Cllr John Hatfield

                    Tel:  01270 569624

                    Fax: 01270 666371

                    E-mail: cllr.john.hatfield@crewe-nantwich.gov.uk

                    Cllr Brian Silvester

                    Tel:  01270 567757

                    Fax: 01270 567757

                    E-mail: cllr.brian.silvester@crewe-nantwich.gov.uk

March 2008