Fenland District Council consults on Council Tax freeze and draft Business Plan

Fenland District Council has published a draft budget that would again see no rise in its element of the Council Tax for the coming year.

This will be the fifth consecutive year the Council has frozen its portion of the Council Tax.

Residents are being asked to have their say on the authority’s draft budget and Business Plan, which set out the Council’s priorities for the coming year.

Councillor Chris Boden, council leader and portfolio holder for finance, said: “As always, our priorities for the coming year focus on continuing to make Fenland a fantastic place to live and work.

“Despite facing the same increased difficulties that everybody is experiencing with the ongoing cost of living crisis and rising inflation, we believe we can reduce the burden on Fenland residents by freezing our portion of the Council Tax for another year.

“We urge people to look through our draft budget and Business Plan to help us shape those and make them the best they can be.

“We’ve already done some important work in recent years to ensure Council services are fit for the future and moving with the times by making more of our services available in the variety of ways people now expect – online as well as in person.

“That’s something we plan to continue building on as well as continuing to deliver the top-quality core services that our residents expect.”

In a typical year the Council empties three million bins, cleans 210 square miles of town centres and open spaces, answers 78,000 telephone enquiries and determines 1,300 planning applications.

The draft business plan sets out five priorities for the coming year. They are: ‘Council for the Future,’ ‘Quality Organisation,’ Communities,’ ‘Environment’ and ‘Economy.’

The draft budget proposes freezing Fenland District Council’s element of the Council Tax for the fifth successive year and eighth time in eleven years.

The district council receives around 12 per cent of the total bill. The rest goes to county and parish councils and police and fire authorities. The overall cost of the bill will still rise if those authorities raise their elements of the bill.

View the draft budget and business plan and take part in the consultation at: https://www.fenland.gov.uk/yourviews2023

Paper copies of the documents and consultation will also be available to view, without an appointment, at the Council’s Customer Services Centres at:

South Fens Business Centre, Fenton Way, Chatteris PE16 6TT

Fenland Hall, County Road, March PE15 8NQ

The Boathouse Business Centre, 1 Harbour Square, Nene Parade, Wisbech PE13 3BH

The consultation is open now until Friday, February 3.