Archive for April 24th, 2013
Wednesday, April 24th, 2013
Following the recent announcement of a 0.1% cut in its share of the council tax, Conservative controlled Staffordshire County Council has the lowest council tax of any county in England.
After freezing its share of council tax bills for two years, Staffordshire has cut its council tax for 2013/14 by 0.1%, meaning that its share of a Band D property bill will be £1,027.25. This is lower than any other English county.
Staffordshire County Council, leader Philip Atkins said, “Despite national cuts in public spending, we made an ambitious promise last year to try and reduce our share of council tax bills over time. We have delivered, following years of sound, responsible leadership.
“We know that people want us to put extra energy into creating jobs and improving the local economy, and to look after those people who need our help. People also want us to help protect their pockets as they feel the strain from rising energy bills, petrol prices and the cost of the weekly shop.
“That’s why we have made every effort to not only keep council tax as low as possible, but even to reduce it slightly, at the same time as protecting and improving services.
“This is another milestone in transforming the County Council into a high value organisation with low tax and quality services at its heart. That means using innovation to deliver services in new and better ways, cutting waste and working closer with partners to find savings.”
Wednesday, April 24th, 2013
Conservative controlled Staffordshire County Council has offered 9 out of 10 parents their first choice primary school, despite rises in pupil numbers putting pressure on school places.
Figures show the overwhelming majority of parents have been allocated their first choice school, with 97 per cent in total allocated one of their top three preferred schools.
A total of 8897 places have been allocated, with 8167 of those receiving their first choice primary school and 8648 getting one of their top three. This is despite a rise in birth rate of up to 11 per cent in Staffordshire over the last decade putting more pressure on school places.
Three years ago, the county council successfully applied for £44 million of the government’s ‘basic need’ allocation to increase capacity across Staffordshire. Since then, officers have managed to provide an extra 2,000 primary school places across the county through expanding existing schools and building two new ones.
Anne Birch, County Commissioner for learning and skills said: “A huge percentage of parents in Staffordshire have got their first preference, and have good reason to celebrate. Despite the rise in birth rates and the extra pressures on primary school places in the county, through careful managing of the admissions process and the extra capacity we are putting in Staffordshire schools we have managed to ensure the majority of parents are offered one of their top three places.
“Last year we were awarded nearly £13million towards primary school places in the county, in recognition of rising birth rates. We have already added capacity in Burton, Huntington, Fradley, Lichfield and Stafford either by making better use of existing accommodation or through building new schools, and this will continue for the next few years.
“These pressures on school places makes the fact that we have given 92 per cent of parents their first choice school all the more remarkable. A large number of parents now have very good reason to be pleased as their child starts their school life in a Staffordshire school.”
Following the recent announcement of a 0.1% cut in its share of the council tax, Conservative controlled Staffordshire County Council has the lowest council tax of any county in England.
