Council agrees budget for coming year

High Peak Borough Council has set its budget for providing essential services at £10.2m for the coming year.

A Council Tax increase of 2.9% has also been agreed - setting Band D payments at £191.76 for 2019/20 which equates to a rise of £5.40 or ten pence per week.

Emily Thrane, Executive Councillor for Finance and Operational Services, said: "In setting the budget we have been, as always, extremely mindful of the need to ensure we use these public funds responsibly to provide the key services that our residents have every right to expect.

"Council tax contributes just over half of the Council's overall budget and we have aimed to keep any increase as low as we can whilst still delivering essential, high quality services.

"We have done a significant amount of work to make sure our services are efficient and deliver value for money. For example, we and our Alliance partners at Staffordshire Moorlands District Council have saved £1.2m through our new waste collection company Alliance Environmental Services. We've also made it easier to contact us by providing more and more of our services digitally and will continue to keep services under review to identify further opportunities to improve efficiency and save money."

The Borough Council collects Council Tax on behalf of the County Council, Police and Fire Authorities but only spends 12% of the total.

This expenditure is used to provide services including affordable housing, waste and recycling, street cleaning, leisure centres, parks maintenance, support for local businesses, crime prevention activities, benefits services and elections.