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Efficiencies: How we give you Value for Money

The present economic climate presents specific challenges for the Council as demand increases for services such as Housing and Benefits advice, whilst Government Funding for the Council continues to fall with a reduction of 11.4% in 2013/14 (£382,050) and a further reduction of 13.1% (£457,250) anticipated for 2014/15.  However, despite these challenges the Council in 2012/13 reduced its Council Tax by 2.1% and has agreed to freeze Council Tax for 2013/14, enabling the Council to qualify for a Council Tax Freeze Grant of £56,470.

How we continue to be efficient

To address the challenges that we are faced with changes have been made to the Council’s structure and operating practices over the last 3 years.  These changes have successfully secured savings and supported the re-investment of those savings into front line services.  This has resulted in:

• A reduction in General Fund staffing costs of £1.2 million over the last 3 years;
• The above includes a reduction in senior management costs totalling approximately £250,000
• Streamlining the Council’s depot services and renegotiating contracts with external suppliers

Achieving savings by reducing back office costs through greater efficiency continues to be a priority of the Council which will ensure that frontline services are protected and invested in despite the difficult financial climate.  Over the last two years the Council has reinvested some of the savings achieved into front line services.  The investment has included:

• Additional recycling opportunities – introduction of a food waste service
• Extended the street cleansing service to weekends and evenings for town centre areas
• Introduced the Brentwood Localism Share Fun
• 6 fun days held at King George’s Playing Fields, which saw 8,000 people attending.

In order to address the ongoing financial challenges, the Council will now embark on a 3 year transformation programme.  This programme will include streamlining services to make them more efficient and exploring new ways of generating income.

The programme will deliver savings of some £3.8 million over the next 3 years, which will enable the Council to address the funding deficit but with an improved customer offer at the very heart of the business.

How our budget is affected 

The table below shows how the state of the national economy and the Government’s policy of reducing public expenditure has affected our budget.

How the money is spent

The table below shows how much we plan to spend on each of the main services during 2013/14.

How much do you pay? 

The Council works out how much Council Tax must be collected by adding together the money needed by each of the four authorities.  The total Council Tax the Council needs to collect in 2013/14 is £45,201,649 (excluding Parish Councils).The table below shows the Council Tax for an average property in band D.

For every £1.00 you contribute in Council Tax 12p remains with Brentwood Borough Council.

Medium Term Financial Plan: Delivering For Brentwood 2013/14-2015/16

At the Special Policy, Projects and Resources Board on 12.2.13, the Leader of the Council, Louise McKinlay gave a presentation on the Medium Term Financial Plan: Delivering For Brentwood 2013/14-2015/16.