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South Ribble freezes council tax
South Ribble Borough Council has frozen its share of this year's council council and insisted frontline services will be protected.
Once police and fire authority rises have been taken in to account, the overall increase at 0.4 per cent is the lowest since council tax was introduced in 1993.
After saving more than 2 million in the last financial year, the council is targeting another 900,000 of efficiencies in the next 12 months, as part of the budget agreed at a full council meeting on Wednesday night.
The cash-strapped local authority says it has still managed to invest 1m in the Step Up grant scheme for first-time buyers in the borough, and weekly waste collections are set to be introduced later this year.
It all means that residents will not have to pay any extra for borough council services this year. The average Band D home owner will pay 203.30 for the year.
Coun Stephen Robinson, cabinet member with responsibility for finance and resources, said: "I am delighted that we have been able to freeze our share of council tax, despite the problems that have been forced upon us.
"This has been achieved while maintaining frontline services and avoiding compulsory redundancies, while feedback shows residents' satisfaction with the council has increased.
"There is no doubt that the coming year will be tough, but this council has shown it has an excellent track record of delivering more for less, so we are well placed to successfully tackle the challenges which lie ahead.
"We have delivered a budget which will keep more money in people's pockets, and at the same time have fulfilled our promises to restore weekly food waste collections and to keep council tax rises below the rate of inflation."
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Weather for Leyland
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 14 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 23 C
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