Written 20/07/05

Parliament has confirmed today that SCDC is among eight councils that will have their spending on services "capped" this year.

The District Councils spending is to be capped by £2.6 million, which equates to almost a fifth of our original 2005/06 budget. As a result, council tax bills for average ("band D") homes in South Cambridgeshire will fall from £140 to £92.93 for the District Council's services. This is a reduction of £47 for the year, or 90 pence a week. Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Order requires SCDC to send out new council tax bills - an exercise which itself will cost council tax payers around £75,000.

Leader of the Council, Councillor Sebastian Kindersley said, "Throughout the last few months, we have said that capping would be bad news for the people of the district and that the costs of sending out revised council tax bills would be perverse. We have fought hard to safeguard the interests of South Cambridgeshire, but unfortunately our argument has not held sway. We must now move on. Parliament has spoken and the Council will respect Parliament's wishes.

"We will do our best to work within the new capped budget limits, although this will be difficult and there will be agonising choices ahead. There will need to be significant cutbacks. Capping means that the Council's revised budget for 2005/06 will now have to be substantially less than our spending on services last year. Residents will feel the pinch in reductions to the day-to-day services that many of us currently take for granted. Local voluntary organisations, community groups and other public services could be hit hard by less grant-funding and less support for partnership-working. This will inevitably have a knock-on effect for the local quality of life. The service cuts will also lead to considerable job losses amongst our hard-working and dedicated staff. The Council very much regrets the uncertainty and heartache that capping will cause so many people.

"The Council now needs to look to the future to minimise the harm caused by capping. We will do our best to stay focused on our key priorities of customer service, affordable housing and the sensible and sustainable design of Northstowe and other major developments that are expected by the Government. Over the coming weeks and months, the Council will be working hard to set a revised budget and to minimise cuts to services and jobs. Until new council tax bills are sent, households are required to keep up with existing payment arrangements.

"Councillors will learn from what has happened over capping, and can only hope that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does the same. Central government has treated the people of South Cambridgeshire very badly."

• Financial support from Whitehall for SCDC services has fallen by 33% in real terms over the last 10 years.
   
• National planning policy expects South Cambridgeshire to take massive new housing development and a 33% growth in population within the next ten years.
   
• Ministers have dodged the difficult questions about how the Council can be expected to prepare for the development of new communities without increased funding now.
   
• Although the Council asked them repeatedly, the Government refused to reveal the new capping criteria until after councils had set their 2005/06 budgets.

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