21/10/03 - Spending Guidelines for County Council

Today, Cumbria County Council’s Cabinet gave clear guidelines on spending to Departments in an effort   to   avoid   high   levels   of   council   tax.  Based on the amount of spending that is anticipated by the Government in each of the major areas of expenditure, departments will now need to come forward with a package of measures including the redirection of resources and and consideration of areas where efficiency savings can be made.

The message clearly given was to maintain and protect front line services whilst making efficiency savings wherever possible.  This will ensure that the Council can work within the Government's expectations of spending whilst not putting unreasonable pressure on council tax.

The Chair of the Corporate Planning Working Group, Mike Ash, says,

"The level of Council Tax is an important issue for this Administration.  Although we won't know what the settlement will be, we ar determined to control spending whilst protecting services.  In this way we hope to ensure the council tax burden next year is not excessive.  We agreed today the planning guidelines for Council Directorates.  The guidelines are based on the Government's spending expectations and linked to the Corporate Strategy which acts as a framework for all of our activities.  The Government cannot keep asking us to spend more but not give us the money to make it happen".