Prudent management of Council finances
Wyre Forest District Council's Cabinet meet next Tuesday
(15th June), where it will receive a report about the
provisional financial outturn for 2009/10.
The report will show that prudent management has resulted in net
expenditure being about £1m less than the expected total of £60m.
This will help the Council protect services in the difficult years
that lie ahead.
The main reasons underlying the Council's financial performance
are:
Tight control on all expenditure, with strict rules implemented
in relation to the management of vacancies within the Council,
coupled with reductions in overtime payments. In addition, the
Council has reduced activity as far as possible to all but the most
essential areas.
Secondly, the Council continues to manage its tax position as
carefully as possible for the benefit of Wyre Forest Tax payers.
During the year, the Council has been successful in achieving a VAT
refund which has seen the Council receive around £750k. This refund
will in the main be used to strengthen the balances of the Council
but elements will be used to support new one off initiatives, such
as supporting economic development activities and improvements to
Kidderminster Town Centre.
Finally, the Council is reducing the size of its workforce and
there have been further redundancies during the last year.
Allowance had been made for the costs from the Council's on-going
revenue budget. However, the Government has allowed the Council to
charge these costs to its Capital reserves. This is good news and
again allows the Council to protect front line services.
Councillor Nathan Desmond, Cabinet Member for Resources
said,
"The Council is moving into uncharted territory in relation to
the support that we receive from Government. As yet, we have not
been informed how much of the £6.2bn of cuts in this year will have
to come from Wyre Forest.
"It is clear that we will have difficult and at times
unpalatable decisions to make in the future. The Council's prudent
financial management during 2009/10 is excellent news for the
residents of Wyre Forest and shows that we are being careful with
your money. This will help to ensure that the Council will be able
to react in a deliberate and considered manner in responding to
future reductions in funding rather than having to make knee-jerk
decisions."
Date of issue - 10 June 2010
