Talk to Rochford Life: E-mail us. For  numbers for shops, business etc. see page below.
    HOME    
Make a point of visiting us weekly!        Tell a friend about us.
Local
Rochford District
      
News Bulletin  Page
Rochford District Council,  South Street,  Rochford.
01702  546366       

Residents urged to view Annual Report – to see how their money is being spent

26-8-14

 

Residents are urged to view Rochford District Council’s Annual Report to see how their money is being spent.

The report for 2013/14 shows that, despite having one of the lowest grant funding levels, the authority continues to deliver high levels of performance.

 

It has been a challenging year, with further cuts to Government funding, and the Council has had to make some tough decisions in order to balance the budget.

 

However, during 2013/14, the Council has been successful in generating income through the provision of services to partners and other Councils and approximately £132,400 has been earned from objectives such as:

· providing a payroll service to Castle Point and Trust Administration

· working in partnership on Legal Services and Building Control

· providing grounds maintenance services to Parish Councils and Essex County Council

 

The Council also planned to make savings during the year of £420,000, which were delivered. This has been achieved by more efficient service and better organisation.

 

Some examples of savings are:

· Intensive testing on benefits was carried out by Internal Audit instead of the external auditors.

· New contract arrangements for the Grounds Maintenance service.

· Over a £100,000 per year in savings from a new ICT contract.

· Reduction in the cost of external audit.

 

The Annual Report highlights that although the Council was responsible for collecting £44.1 million of Council Tax last year, we only kept £5.9 million, equivalent to 13p in every pound collected. The majority of what is collected is paid to other authorities.

The Council is determined to deliver high levels of performance, and in the last year it has made a wealth of achievements during a time of unprecedented cost reductions.

 

Some of the highlights are:

- We reclaimed the title of being the best authority in England when it comes to recycling, with a rate of 66.8%.

- We ran another successful Wild Woods Day for families to enjoy.

- Rayleigh Windmill achieved the national accreditation of Quality Assured Visitor Attraction from Visit England.

- The Council’s Legal team and the Environment Agency won the Prosecution Team of the Year award for its joint work in taking prosecution action against serious planning and environmental breaches at Michelins Farm.

- Rochford District Council is amongst the best in the country when it comes to collecting Council Tax. The Revenues and Benefits team collected 98.3% of Council Tax due in 2013/2014, along with 97.8% of business rates.

- The Rochford Arts Trail scooped two regional Towns Alive awards; it won the ‘Culture and Environment’ category for the East zone and overall winner in the East.

- We have continued to provide support to local businesses and have continued to host three business breakfasts per year. Last year, the ‘Shop at my Local’ scheme celebrated a milestone as the 1000th shopper signed up and pledged to shop locally.

 

Leader of Rochford District Council, Councillor Terry Cutmore, said: “The last year has been challenging in terms of cuts to Government funding, and we have been operating within some very tight budget constraints, but this has not prevented us from delivering a high quality service to our residents. It is promising that we have generated £132,400 of income in the last year, and we will look to develop further income streams in order to reduce our reliance on Government grant. I look forward to the coming year as one where we can build on our successes and provide ever-increasing value for money to our residents.”

 

To view the annual report go to www.rochford.gov.uk/annualreport