South Cambridgeshire District Council will accept a one-off Government grant in favour of increasing council tax.

SOUTH Cambridgeshire District Council is freezing its share of council tax.

Bosses at the council have agreed to accept a one-off central government grant, meaning tax levels in 2012-13 will remain the same as this year.

Cllr Ray Manning, leader of the district council, said: “We understand many residents are still struggling to make ends meet due to the national downturn and the right decision for us was to freeze council tax for a second year running.”

As a result of the decision, the council will now have to make £470,000 of savings within 15 months, but senior figures have vowed to shield frontline services from cuts.

Cllr Simon Edwards, cabinet member for finance and the council’s deputy leader, said: “This decision does mean we will need to find further savings in just over a year’s time and, although we are already a very lean council, with one of the lowest council tax rates in the country, we have a proven track record of good financial management and will continue to squeeze every penny out of the taxpayers’ pound for our residents.

“Councillors of all parties already took a decision last year to once again freeze the allowances we receive for the role we play in representing our communities, and it is decisions such as this that make sure we can put forward a budget that commits to protecting front-line services for our residents.”

The freeze was announced as the district council revealed its spending plans for the coming financial year.

It is launching a scheme which will see hundreds of new council-owned homes built in the district to provide accommodation for people currently on the housing waiting list.

Up to £28 million will be invested in the building project over the next 10 years, while £26 million from rent collected will be reinvested to update and maintain current properties.

Support for local businesses will be increased by way of a £20,000 investment, which will see the creation of a new one-stop shop business website to help existing firms and to encourage new ones to move to the district.

The council has also allocated £50,000 to support a county-wide initiative to extend super-fast broadband coverage in Cambridgeshire.

As reported in Cambridge First last week, Cambridgeshire County Council is proposing to increase its council 
tax bill by 2.95 per cent, while Cambridgeshire Constabulary and the county’s fire authority also want to up their share.

Cambridge City Council has announced it will freeze council tax at its current level.

The district council’s cabinet will consider the proposed budget at a meeting on Thursday, February 9 before it is presented to full council on Thursday, February 23.