News that West Lindsey District Council will be freezing their portion of the Council Tax, whilst investing in maintaining frontline services and delivering new schemes, has come as welcome news for hardworking people living in the district.

Despite the tough financial conditions that local authorities across the country are facing Conservatives on West Lindsey District Council have managed to freeze the authority’s portion of the Council Tax, protect frontline services, deliver new programmes to improve local communities and keep their manifesto commitments.

Local councils are on the frontline of the national effort to eliminate the deficit. Local councils are funded largely by grants from Central Government, then the receipts from Council Tax followed by a number of other smaller revenue streams, such as fees and charges for services.  Since 2008 the money received by local councils has reduced and will be down by thirty percent by 2015. 

Back in 2008, when the Conservatives took control of the district council, from the previous Liberal Democrat administration, we implemented a root and branch review of the Council to ensure that it was fit for purpose.  Aware that ‘the good times’ would no-doubt come to an end at some point; we took action to ensure that our council would be in a robust position, and local residents would be protected.

Conservatives councillors at West Lindsey have delivered some of the smallest rises in Council Tax since we came into office; our increases over the past six years have equated to only two-thirds of the increases of our Liberal Democrat predecessors – who were only in office for two years and in three of the last four years we have had no increase at all.

In his budget statement Conservative Leader of West Lindsey District Council, Cllr. Jeff Summers, yesterday announced new money to help local communities with the introduction of a £250,000 Community Grant Scheme and a £300,000 fund to improve accessibility through rural transport improvements.

The popular Local Councillors Initiative Fund, introduced by the Conservatives, has also been given a boost with an additional £37,000 (£1,000 per councillor).  The scheme now allocates a total of £5,000 to each ward councillor to spend on local projects of community benefit between the start of the 2013/14 and end of the 2014/15 financial years.  Hundreds of local organisations and groups have already benefited from the scheme and more now will.

Frontline services have been protected.  Conservatives are proud to be keeping their manifesto promise to local residents and are not introducing an annual charge, like other authorities in Lincolnshire, for a household’s first green ‘garden waste’ wheelie bin.  All charges at the Council’s car parks will remain at their current levels.