Vale of White Horse District Council
Abbey House, Abbey Close,
Abingdon, OX14 3JE
Email: comments@whitehorsedc.gov.uk
Telephone: 01235 520202

Vale of White Horse District Council

Budget 2006/07

The Council set a budget of £11.2m for 2006/07. 

This resulted in an increase of the Vale’s portion of the Council Tax of 4.99 per cent, representing a £4.62 increase in the Band D charge from £92.60 to £97.22 for the year.

The budget is made up of £6.6m of Government grant and £4.5m from Council Tax. The Council also generates £3.2m from investment and property income. Savings of £1m were identified as part of the budget setting.

As well as provision for statutory services like waste collection, local planning and benefits, the budget will also provide funding for the Council’s long term strategy and priorities including affordable housing, creating cleaner, greener, safer and healthier communities and improving and modernising access the services.

Full details of the budget can be found by viewing or downloading the document on the right.

In summary, spending commitments include:

• £500,000 to support affordable housing schemes
• £805,000 to support disabled people who want to live in their own homes but need adaptations to do so
• £150,000 over the next three years to improve how the public can make contact with the Council
• Increasing and improving parks and open spaces including Mably Way, Grove, Tugwell Fields, Wantage, and Stockham Park, Wantage
• £60,000 to build a skate park in Abingdon.

Savings and income were identified after consultation with the public and include:

• Using an external contractor to provide financial services in a joint deal with South Oxfordshire District Council, saving £130,000 per year
• Introducing a charge for the rat control service of £20, generating £27,000 per year. This will include measures to ensure property owners deal with any rat control problems on their premises, including the use of enforcement powers. Initial surveys will be free and provision will also be made for people on benefits.
• Reducing the number of council meetings by 25 per cent, thereby reducing the number of officers needed to support meetings, saving £20,000 a year
• Generating advertising income in Vale Views, the residents’ newspaper, to make it self-funding, saving £20,000 a year
• Making litter picking on the A34 more efficient, without reducing standards, saving £18,000 a year.
• General savings in the Local Service Points, including the eventual closure of cash offices once alternative systems are in place, saving £47,000 a year
• Introducing charges for the naming and numbering service for house name changes, new houses and new developments, generating £10,000 per year
• Increasing charges for bulky waste collection, generating £4,000 a year
• Increasing car parking charges for short and medium term stays by 10p, generating £70,000 a year. New evening charges will not be introduced and Sunday charging will not be extended beyond three Abingdon car parks which already have Sunday charges.