Council Tax Freeze
For local residents the Council Tax for the coming year will effectively be unchanged. The County, Borough, Police and Fire Service have all announced a zero increase.
Despite severe pressure on their budget, High Peak Council was able to avoid any increase thanks to a special government grant, conditional on freezing Council Tax levels. But savings still need to be made across the board.
Liberal Democrat councillors backed the Borough budget after changes were made to ensure continued support of local groups and partnerships.
"I hope frontline services can still be kept up to standard" said Liberal Democrat leader David Lomax "Although we did not get all the changes we asked for, given the serious position, we believe we have made the best of a very difficult situation."
Labour declared that, if elected to power in May, they would change the budget in September.
Management Cut Backs
However many managers and supervisors face an uncertain future as cuts were announced at the Council meeting. After consultation with staff it is hoped compulsory redundancies can be avoided.
Councillor David Lomax commented 'We much regret the possible loss of valued and experienced staff, and we must make sure that the new slimline management delivers the level of service that residents demand.'