inform
A guide to your Council Tax 2010/11
Working together
Paying made easy
Sign up for direct debit
Please see the back of your Council Tax
bill for more about direct debit.
Contents
Page
What is Council Tax?
3
Who has to pay Council Tax?
4
People with disabilities
4
Exemptions
5
Discounts
6
Benefits
6
How to appeal
7
Tendring District Council –
8
How we work out your Council Tax
Council Tax amounts for town
10
and parish areas
About Essex County Council
12
About Essex Police Authority
16
About Essex Fire Authority
20
How to contact us
24
More information
We can provide this leaflet in other
formats, for example large print,
audio tape or another language, free
of charge.
For more about this or about Council
Tax, phone 01255 686822. If you use
Minicom (for the hard of hearing),
dial 01255 475566.
Cover image: Ha’Penny Pier, Harwich by Tendring resident Barney Vost
2 | A guide to your Council Tax 2010/11
Pay online or over the phone
I Go to www.tendringdc.gov.uk and
follow the link ’Pay for it’ to pay online
and get a receipt by e-mail.
I Freephone our automated 24-hour
payment line on 0800 678 3046.
Is your bill correct?
Please tell us about any changes in your
circumstances, or if your billing details
are wrong.
Difficulty paying?
Remember, we are here to help you.
Please contact us if you cannot pay your
Council Tax. Don’t wait until you are in
debt as this makes it more difficult to
sort the problem out.
Do you own an empty property?
On 1 April 2009 Tendring District Council
removed the discount on empty
domestic properties. Therefore you may
wish to consider renting out any empty
home you have.
If you are interested in doing this or
need advice on the options available to
you, please contact the empty homes
officer on 01255 686739 or e-mail:
[email protected]
Go to www.tendringdc.gov.uk or see the
back of your bill for more information
and other ways to pay.
Working together for you
Tendring District Council, Essex County Council, Essex Police Authority and Essex Fire
Authority have produced this booklet together to make it quicker and easier to
explain how we work out your Council Tax and how we use it. This is one example of
how we work together to save money and improve services.
What is Council Tax?
Council Tax is a tax local authorities
charge to raise money to pay for their
services.
Almost every household has to pay
Council Tax, whether your home is a
house, bungalow, flat, maisonette,
mobile home or houseboat, and whether
you own or rent it.
This year we need to collect £75 million
in Council Tax. Every £1 of Council Tax is
shared in the following way.
Essex Police
Authority
receive 9p
Each property is put into one of eight
bands, depending on how much it was
worth on 1 April 1991.
Essex Fire Authority
receive 5p
Parish councils
receive 2p (see
note below)
Your Council Tax bill shows the band
your home is in.
Valuation
band
Value of property
on 1 April 1991
Band A
£40,000 or less
Band B
£40,001 to £52,000
Band C
£52,001 to £68,000
Band D
£68,001 to £88,000
Band E
£88,001 to £120,000
Band F
£120,001 to £160,000
Band G
£160,001 to £320,000
Band H
More than £320,000
We (Tendring District Council) collect
your Council Tax and put it into a separate
fund called the collection fund. We share
this fund with Essex County Council,
Essex Police Authority, Essex Fire Authority
and the parish and town councils.
Tendring District
Council receive
10p
(see note below)
Essex County
Council receive
74p
I Essex County Council use Council Tax
to pay for services such as social
services, highways and libraries.
I We use Council Tax to help pay for
services such as collecting rubbish,
planning, leisure services, developing
housing and improving facilities for our
community.
Please note – these are averages across
all the parish and town councils.
www.tendringdc.gov.uk | 3
Who has to pay Council Tax?
At least one person in each household is
responsible for paying Council Tax.
In most cases the person (or people) aged 18
or over nearest the top of the following list
will be responsible for paying Council Tax:
I Owner-occupiers
I Leaseholders
I People who pay rent
I People who have a licence to occupy, such
as people who live in tied cottages
(housing related to their work)
I People such as squatters, who live in the
property but have no legal interest in it
(that is, they don’t own or rent it)
I People who own the property but don’t
live in it.
People such as tenants, married people or civil
partners can be jointly or separately responsible
for all the Council Tax for their property.
People with
disabilities
You may be entitled to pay less
Council Tax if you, or someone
who lives with you, has a room or
extra space, or an extra bathroom
or kitchen, or uses a wheelchair
in your property, to meet special
needs relating to a disability.
We will reduce your bill by putting
your home in the valuation band
below the one it is now in. (For
example, if your home is in band
C, we will put it in band B.) If
your home is in band A, we will
reduce your bill by the difference
between the amounts charged
for bands A and B.
This means that people with
disabilities don’t have to pay
more Council Tax for the extra
space they need.
The Direct Debit Guarantee
• This guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept
instructions to pay direct debits.
• If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your direct
debit, Tendring District Council will notify you ten working days in advance
of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request
Tendring District Council to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount
and date will be given to you at the time of the request.
• If an error is made in the payment of your direct debit by Tendring District
Council or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and
immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society.
• If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when
Tendring District Council asks you to.
• You can cancel a direct debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or
building society. Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify us.
4 | A guide to your Council Tax 2010/11
Exempt properties
You don’t have to pay Council Tax for
some properties. These are known as
‘exempt properties’.
If no-one lives in a property, it is exempt
if the property:
I is unfurnished and needs or is having
major repairs or structural alterations
(exempt for up to a year) (Class A)
I is owned by a charity (exempt for up
to six months) (Class B)
I is unfurnished (exempt for up to six
months) (Class C)
I is left unoccupied because the owner
or tenant who was living there is in
prison (Class D)
I is left unoccupied by someone who
has moved to receive personal care in
a hospital, a care home, or somewhere
else (Class E)
I is unoccupied when the owner has
died and the property has to be sold
to clear the debts of the estate. The
exemption can apply for up to six
months after probate or letters of
administration have been granted.
(Class F)
I is unoccupied because it is against the
law for anyone to live in it (Class G)
I is waiting to be lived in by a minister
of religion (Class H)
I is the responsibility of a trustee for
someone who has been made
bankrupt (Class Q)
I is an empty pitch for a caravan or
mobile home, or a mooring for a
houseboat (Class R), or
I is part of a property that also includes
another home and cannot be let
separately. (Class T)
Homes are also exempt if the following
people live there:
I Only students. (Classes M and N)
I Only people under 18 years old. (Class
S)
I Only people who have a severe
mental difficulty and who would
otherwise have to pay Council Tax.
(Class U)
I A diplomat or member of international
organisations. (Class V)
I An elderly or disabled person living
in part of a home (an annexe) and
their relative lives in the other part of
the home. (Class W).
Please contact us if you think your property
should be exempt from Council Tax or
you should pay a reduced rate. Within 21
days of receiving the bill, you must tell us
about anything that could affect an
exemption or discount you receive.
I is unoccupied because the owner or
tenant who was living there has moved
away to receive or provide care
(Class I & J)
I is unoccupied and owned by a student
and they were the last person to live
there (Class K)
I has been repossessed and is still
unoccupied (Class L)
www.tendringdc.gov.uk | 5
Discounts
Benefits
Your Council Tax bill assumes that two
adults are living in your home. If you are
the only adult living there (as your main
home), we will reduce the bill by 25%. If
you own a furnished property and noone lives there as their main home, we
will reduce the bill by 10%.
Council Tax Benefit means that people
who get Income Support or Guarantee
Pension Credit do not normally pay
Council Tax, and that other people on
low incomes pay less Council Tax.
If the property is unoccupied and
unfurnished, no discount will be given.
When we look at the number of adults
living in a property, we do not count:
I full-time students, student nurses,
apprentices and youth trainees
I people who live in hospital
I people who are being looked after in
care homes
I people who are severely mentally
disabled
I people staying in some hostels for the
homeless or night shelters
I 18 and 19 year-olds who are at or have
just left school
I care workers working for low pay
(usually for a charity)
I people caring for someone with a
disability, who is not their partner or
their child (if the child is under 18)
I members of visiting forces and some
international institutions
I diplomats and their husbands or wives
(who are not British)
I monks and nuns, and
I people in prison (except people in
prison for not paying their Council
Tax or a fine relating to their
Council Tax).
6 | A guide to your Council Tax 2010/11
There is also a scheme called Second
Adult Rebate, which may apply if you
share your home with other adults who
are on low incomes.
We also pay Housing Benefit to help
people pay their rent.
Make a claim as soon as you need help.
Don’t delay as you will lose money.
Claim by phoning:
I us on 01255 686811 – Benefit enquiries
I Jobcentre Plus on 0800 0 55 66 88 if
you are of working age (under 60), or
I The Pension Service on 0800 99 1234 if
you are of pension age (60 or over).
All benefits and rebates you are entitled
to should be included on your Council
Tax bill. Please tell us if you think you
qualify for help to pay your Council Tax
and it is not shown on your bill, or if you
need more information.
We will need you to fill in a form to claim
Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit.
We will also ask you to give us proof of
things like your identity, address, income
and savings.
Changes
Please tell us when you move to another
address.
If you are receiving Council Tax Benefit
or Housing Benefit, you must tell us
about any change that could affect your
benefit claim. Please tell us when you
know.
How do I appeal?
Valuation appeals
If you think your home should be in a
different valuation band, please write to
The Valuation Office Agency (not us) at
34 Southway, Colchester CO2 7BB or
telephone them on 01206 287100 or
email them at
[email protected]
They will tell you your rights and how to
appeal, if you are entitled to do so.
Other appeals
You can appeal to us if:
If you are still not happy with our
decision, you can take your case to an
independent appeals tribunal by writing
to tell us that this is what you want to do.
If you appeal, you must continue to pay
your Council Tax until your appeal is
decided. If your appeal succeeds, we will
give you back any Council Tax you have
overpaid.
Benefit fraud
If you think a person is committing
benefit fraud, call our Fraud Line on
0800 1697 004. We treat all calls as
confidential. Or e-mail us at
[email protected]
I you feel the property should be
exempt from Council Tax
I you believe we have made a mistake
working out your bill
I we have not given you a discount, or
I we have not reduced your bill because
you or someone you live with has a
disability.
If you disagree with our decision, you
have two months to appeal to a
Valuation Tribunal.
The address is: The Essex North
Valuation Tribunal, Sherbourne House, 71
Collingwood Road, Witham, Essex, CM8
2EE or telephone them on 01376
502103 or e-mail them
[email protected]
If you have applied for Council Tax
Benefit and you disagree with
our decision, you can ask us
to look at it again. You can
also appeal against our
decision within one month
of us making it (you must
appeal in writing).
www.tendringdc.gov.uk | 7
Tendring District Council
How we work out your Council Tax
The table shows how much we plan to
spend on each of our main services.
The Government pays us the Revenue
Support Grant out of the taxes it collects.
We collect some of this money through
Council Tax, but we have two other main
sources of income – the Revenue
Support Grant and shared Business Rates.
We collect Business Rates and pay them
all to the Government, which then repays
some of them to us.
£ thousands
Last year
This year
(2009/10) (2010/11)
General council costs
4,353
3,515
Coastal Protection
880
858
Collecting local taxes and paying Council Tax Benefit 15,451
17,517
Community Safety
326
487
Environmental Health
4,471
4,528
Highways, Roads and Transport
3,803
3,931
Housing Services
53,855
62,006
Leisure and Tourism
6,523
7,329
Planning, Community, Partnerships and Renewal
5,920
5,930
Refuse Collection and Recycling
3,086
3,164
Other Services
1,407
1,921
Total
100,075
111,186
Town/Parish Council precepts (see page 11)
1,384
1,412
Less income from:
Grants
-55,403
-66,397
Rents/fees /charges/interest
-21,344
-21,107
Net expenditure
24,712
25,094
Transfer from Reserves
-1,715
-1,758
Town/Parish Council precepts (see page 11)
-1,384
-1,412
The amount of money we need to raise
21,613
21,924
General Government Grant
-13,831
-14,199
Income from Collection Fund
-160
-80
Amount to be met by Council Tax
7,622
7,645
Average Council Tax for a property in band D
£149.88
£149.88
in Tendring District Council and the percentage
rise (comparing last year and this year).
8 | A guide to your Council Tax 2010/11
0.00%
Facing cost increases
Becoming more efficient
The table below shows why our
spending has gone up. Government
policies and the state of the national
economy affect our spending in general,
and also affect some particular services,
such as paying benefits.
All councils must measure and report
efficiency savings they have achieved
since April 2008. We make an efficiency
saving when the cost of an activity falls
but it stays just as effective. For the year
2008/09 we achieved a saving of
£447,000. The table below shows the
value of efficiency savings we expect to
achieve by the end of March 2010.
£ thousands
Money needed for
2009/10
Inflationary increase in prices, fees,
charges and our staff’s salaries
21,613
200
Extra spending on services
11,101
Changes in grants, fees and
other charges
-10,947
Changes to how we use savings
The amount we need to
raise in 2010/11
-43
21,924
Saving by March 2010
£947,000
Saving for the average
band D property
£19
Average for other similar
authorities in England
£41
Each year we are assessed by the Audit
Commission on our use of resources and
given a score. In 2009 we scored 3 out of
4, showing we are ‘performing well’.
How much do you have to pay?
We work out how much Council Tax we
must collect by adding together the
money each of the authorities need. The
amount for Tendring District Council is split
between General and Special Expenses.
General Expenses are applied across the
whole district and Special Expenses vary
from area to area (see page 11).
We work out how much Council Tax the
properties in each valuation band should
pay in line with the amount homes in
band D will pay.
So, if your home is in band D, your
Council Tax for this year will be £1,420.78
plus an amount you have to pay to your
local Town/Parish Council for their
precept and to Tendring District Council
for Special Expenses (see page 11 for
more details). The table below shows the
Council Tax for a property in band D.
Tendring District Council – General Expenses
Essex County Council
Essex Fire Authority
Essex Police Authority
Total (not including Town/Parish Councils)
Amount
needed
£ thousand
6,911
55,434
3,388
6,739
72,472
Council Tax for
each property
in band D
£135.49
£1,086.75
£66.42
£132.12
£1,420.78
www.tendringdc.gov.uk | 9
Council Tax amounts for each area in the district
The chart below shows how much Council Tax you have to pay, depending on where
you live and which valuation band your home is in.
Band
A
£
Clacton
(unparished area)
B
£
C
£
D
£
E
£
F
£
G
£
H
£
963.14 1,123.66 1,284.19 1,444.71 1,765.76 2,086.80 2,407.85 2,889.42
Alresford
1,013.23 1,182.11 1,350.98 1,519.85 1,857.59 2,195.34 2,533.08 3,039.70
Ardleigh
973.31 1,135.52 1,297.74 1,459.96 1,784.40 2,108.83 2,433.27 2,919.92
Beaumont-cum-Moze
963.06 1,123.57 1,284.08 1,444.59 1,765.61 2,086.63 2,407.65 2,889.18
Great Bentley
990.79 1,155.93 1,321.06 1,486.19 1,816.45 2,146.72 2,476.98 2,972.38
Little Bentley
951.99 1,110.65 1,269.32 1,427.98 1,745.31 2,062.64 2,379.97 2,855.96
Bradfield
977.35 1,140.25 1,303.14 1,466.03 1,791.81 2,117.60 2,443.38 2,932.06
Brightlingsea
983.55 1,147.47 1,311.40 1,475.32 1,803.17 2,131.02 2,458.87 2,950.64
Great Bromley
972.00 1,134.00 1,296.00 1,458.00 1,782.00 2,106.00 2,430.00 2,916.00
Little Bromley
956.10 1,115.45 1,274.80 1,434.15 1,752.85 2,071.55 2,390.25 2,868.30
Little Clacton
990.31 1,155.37 1,320.42 1,485.47 1,815.57 2,145.68 2,475.78 2,970.94
Elmstead
976.41 1,139.14 1,301.88 1,464.61 1,790.08 2,115.55 2,441.02 2,929.22
Frating
966.26 1,127.30 1,288.35 1,449.39 1,771.48 2,093.56 2,415.65 2,898.78
Frinton and Walton
990.34 1,155.40 1,320.45 1,485.51 1,815.62 2,145.74 2,475.85 2,971.02
Harwich
979.47 1,142.71 1,305.96 1,469.20 1,795.69 2,122.18 2,448.67 2,938.40
Lawford
983.05 1,146.89 1,310.73 1,474.57 1,802.25 2,129.93 2,457.62 2,949.14
Manningtree
965.78 1,126.74 1,287.71 1,448.67 1,770.60 2,092.52 2,414.45 2,897.34
Mistley
981.57 1,145.16 1,308.76 1,472.35 1,799.54 2,126.73 2,453.92 2,944.70
Great Oakley
973.09 1,135.27 1,297.45 1,459.63 1,783.99 2,108.35 2,432.72 2,919.26
Little Oakley
962.41 1,122.81 1,283.21 1,443.61 1,764.41 2,085.21 2,406.02 2,887.22
Ramsey and Parkeston
972.98 1,135.14 1,297.31 1,459.47 1,783.80 2,108.12 2,432.45 2,918.94
St Osyth
981.26 1,144.80 1,308.35 1,471.89 1,798.98 2,126.06 2,453.15 2,943.78
Tendring
961.93 1,122.26 1,282.58 1,442.90 1,763.54 2,084.19 2,404.83 2,885.80
Thorpe-le-Soken
969.22 1,130.76 1,292.29 1,453.83 1,776.90 2,099.98 2,423.05 2,907.66
Thorrington
967.91 1,129.22 1,290.54 1,451.86 1,774.50 2,097.13 2,419.77 2,903.72
Weeley
990.83 1,155.97 1,321.11 1,486.25 1,816.53 2,146.81 2,477.08 2,972.50
Wix
968.68 1,130.13 1,291.57 1,453.02 1,775.91 2,098.81 2,421.70 2,906.04
Wrabness
966.18 1,127.21 1,288.24 1,449.27 1,771.33 2,093.39 2,415.45 2,898.54
10 | A guide to your Council Tax 2010/11
Parish and Town Council spending and Special Expenses
Clacton (unparished area)
Parishes of:
Alresford
Ardleigh
Beaumont-cum-Moze
Great Bentley
Little Bentley
Bradfield
Brightlingsea
Great Bromley
Little Bromley
Little Clacton
Elmstead
Frating
Frinton and Walton
Harwich
Lawford
Manningtree
Mistley
Great Oakley
Little Oakley
Ramsey and Parkeston
St Osyth
Tendring
Thorpe-le-Soken
Thorrington
Weeley
Wix
Wrabness
Total
Special Expenses at
band D in £
Parish part of the
Council Tax for a
property in band D in £
Amount each parish
needs to raise in
2010/11 in £’s
Amount each parish
needed to raise in
2009/10 in £’s
Parish/Town Council precepts: These are the extra amounts of money that these councils
need to pay for things like footpaths, extra street lighting and community centres. The
Council pays the precepts requested to the town and parish councils and recovers the
cost by collecting an extra amount in that area. These are shown in the table below.
Special Expenses: The cost of the Council services throughout the whole district is spread
across all Council Tax payers. However, some specific functions are also carried out by Town/
Parish Councils in their own areas. These functions include maintaining recreation grounds
and open spaces, cemeteries and burial grounds, community centres and children’s play
areas. The Council calculates how much it spends in each area on those functions, reduces
the general Council Tax by this amount and then charges it directly to the area where the
service has been provided.
For more information about the Council’s spending, please contact the Accountancy
Section on 01255 686534.
The tables below show Parish and Town
Parish
Councils that spend more than £140,000.
23.93
73,645 75,207
30,350 30,350
3,000
3,000
45,727 54,041
800
800
14,000 20,000
155,237 157,934
14,000 14,000
1,203
1,330
68,000 68,000
29,400 29,400
6,500
6,500
382,957 382,957
171,924 172,319
72,622 74,267
14,516 14,915
49,000 51,000
14,500 14,500
8,000
8,000
19,425 29,494
99,892 99,443
5,135
6,000
24,854 24,854
15,000 15,000
50,000 44,000
9,500
9,500
4,862
5,287
1,384,049 1,412,098
99.07
36.79
2.39
23.81
64.88
0.53
7.20
45.25
53.53
1.01
37.22
13.37
64.69
42.36
1.47
28.61
46.37 18.36
29.85 18.57
50.31
3.48
40.49 -12.60
51.57
38.56
0.29
20.00
2.83
38.69
50.71
0.40
22.12
32.63
0.42
31.08
65.47
32.24
28.49
2009/10 2010/11
£ thousands £ thousands
Frinton and Walton Town Council
Recreation and tourism
145
145
Police Community
Support Officers
120
123
Other services
119
119
Establishment
121
121
-122
-125
383
383
155
202
7
7
Less income
Total
Brightlingsea Town Council
Recreation and tourism
Waterside activities
Special projects
32
28
Improvements
17
17
Establishment
62
59
-118
-155
155
158
Less income
Total
Harwich Town Council
Recreation and tourism
84
59
Economic development
8
10
99
115
Establishment
Less income
-19
-12
Total
172
172
www.tendringdc.gov.uk | 11
Essex County Council
Council Tax – delivering value for money
Once again, Essex County Council has
managed to keep its Council Tax rise to
1.9%, or just 39 pence more per week for
a band D household. This figure is the
same as last year and is one of the lowest
of any county council in the country.
We are pleased to have met last year’s
pledge to keep any rise below inflation
despite the ever-increasing demands on
public finances and we are again making
the same pledge for next year.
Our modernisation programme means
we have been reducing bureaucracy so
that we can put savings, efficiencies and
extra income – last year around £59
million – into frontline services while
keeping Council Tax low. We have
pledged to make savings of £300 million
12 | A guide to your Council Tax 2010/11
over the next three years – the largest
figure of any local authority in Britain.
What we delivered last year
We reopened eight post offices that had
been closed following the review by Post
Office Ltd. More will reopen in the
coming financial year.
We invested £110 million in our roads,
resurfacing 271 miles in total while
investing £10 million in maintaining local
communities’ roads and footpaths.
We set up the dedicated A12 patrol to
help tackle congestion on this Highways
Agency-controlled road.
We helped secure Hadleigh Farm as the
location for the London 2012 Olympic Games
mountain biking event and construction
started on the Basildon Sporting Village,
which will be a world-class facility.
Recognising the difficult financial times,
we set up Banking on Essex. It is now
providing short-term loans and
overdrafts to eligible businesses.
5. To promote sustainable economic
growth, we will expand universal
broadband to make it easier to run a
business in rural Essex.
We gave thousands of elderly residents
and families with children a one-off
payment of £100 to help with their
Council Tax bills – the first authority in
Britain to do so.
6. To protect the environment, we will
promote a new generation of
community orchards and allotments in
Essex.
We provided Telecare equipment and
support to residents over the age of 85,
which has benefited over 2,000 residents.
We have now extended this to everyone
over 80.
What we will deliver in 2010/11
We are now entering the third year of
our EssexWorks programme. Through
our budget consultation we have
listened to our residents and pledge to
deliver the following specific initiatives:
1. To increase educational achievement
and skills, we will increase the number
of new apprentices in Essex to 1,750
by 2012.
2. To improve transport, we will promote
rural access and community transport
throughout the county.
3. To reduce and recycle waste, we will
expand the delivery of sustainable
energy advice throughout the county.
7. To promote health and leisure, we will
increase opportunities for residents to
adopt a healthy diet and to undertake
more physical activity, in partnership
with the NHS and district and borough
councils.
8. To make communities safer, we will
promote community works initiatives
to rehabilitate offenders and provide
payback to communities.
9. To deliver value for money, we will
keep next year’s Council Tax increase
below the level of inflation.
And throughout all of next year, we will
continue to cut red tape and streamline
our operation so that we can give you
better services and continued value for
money.
For more on what we have delivered
over the past year and our work in the
year ahead, go to www.essex.gov.uk
4. To support our vulnerable people, we
will recruit more foster carers and
improve the support we offer them.
www.essex.gov.uk | 13
Financial overview
This year we will spend £2.18 billion on
delivering services. Some of this will be
supported by grants for specific
purposes and other income, leaving a
net revenue budget of £822 million:
£m
£m
2009/10 2010/11
Total expenditure1
2,168
2,180
Income and grants
-1,365
-1,358
Budget
803
822
This is paid for by:
Council Tax
564
575
2
Formula grant
239
247
Budget
803
822
Ensuring we spend
taxpayers’ money wisely
It is crucial to make sure we spend
taxpayers’ money efficiently by securing
good value in the contracts we sign and
reducing bureaucracy so that money
goes where it is needed most.
Gross expenditure on services
£52m
£55m
£106m
£49m
£228m
£994m
1
Includes payments we have to make to the Environment
Agency (£1.3 million), Lee Valley Regional Park (£1.6
million) and Kent & Essex Sea Fisheries (£0.2 million).
2
This is distributed by the Government using a national
formula; there are no restrictions on what we can spend
this on.
This year’s budget is £19 million (2.4%)
more than last year’s. This includes:
I £107 million for new investment, and
I £20 million relating to pay and price
inflation
I offset by £88 million of savings and
efficiencies, and
I £20 million withdrawal from reserves.
The Essex County Council charge for a
band D property will be £1,086.75 in
2010/11, an increase of 1.9% over 2009/10.
£
724.50
845.25
966.00
1,086.75
Increasing educational achievement
and skills
Supporting vulnerable people
Improving transport
Putting the customer first
Reducing and recycling waste
Council Tax
Band
A
B
C
D
£696m
Band
E
F
G
H
£
1,328.25
1,569.75
1,811.25
2,173.50
The tax base (number of homes) for
Council Tax purposes has increased by
0.5% to 529,060 in 2010/11, providing
Council Tax income of £575 million.
14 | A guide to your Council Tax 2010/11
Making communities safer
Operating costs and other
Because we place so much importance
on spending taxpayers’ money wisely, we
have launched a transformation
programme to ensure the council is as
efficient as it can be. We have appointed
a globally recognised leader, IBM, to
work in partnership with us to truly
produce ‘more with less’. This will help
us achieve our challenging target of £300
million of savings and avoid cuts to the
services our customers value.
Capital investment
Creating new assets and improving our
existing ones is vital and we have set an
overall capital programme of £384
million for 2010/11 (see chart below)
compared to £303 million for 2009/10.
£48m
Becoming more efficient
£41m
£42m
£93m
Supporting vulnerable people in Essex
remains high priority and we plan to
invest £41 million on this in 2010/11. This
includes providing children’s centres
across the county where children under
five years old and their families can
receive joined-up services, such as
education, childcare, and child and
family health services.
We continue to make great strides
towards our goal of providing the best
£160m quality of life in Britain. However, we are
expecting much reduced funding from
central government and less income from
fees and charges. This means we must
redouble our efforts to become more
efficient and give true value for money.
Increasing educational achievement
and skills
Promoting sustainable economic growth
Improving transport
Supporting vulnerable people
Other
We will be investing £160 million in
education so that all parents will be able
to choose a school for their children that
is well run and well resourced.
We want to create a local economy
where businesses of all sizes can start
and prosper and which attracts overseas
investment. So we are planning to spend
£93 million on major transport schemes
to aid economic growth and
regeneration schemes across the county.
All councils are required to measure and
report on the value of efficiency savings
achieved since April 2008. Our figures
are provided in the table below:
Efficiency savings
£
Efficiencies forecast to be 59,036,000
achieved by March 2010
Efficiency savings per
112
band D property
National average efficiency
98
savings per band D property
for all county councils
Actual efficiencies achieved
27,856,000
for the year to March 2009
Essex’s popularity as a place to live and
work has led to growing demands on our
transport system. We will continue to
invest in maintaining and updating our
transport infrastructure and taking action to
reduce congestion (£42 million in 2010/11).
www.essex.gov.uk | 15
Essex Police Authority
Essex Police Authority Council Tax –
details for 2010/11
Essex Police Authority is responsible for
making sure you (the people of Essex)
have an efficient and effective police
service in the areas covered by Essex
County Council and the two unitary
authorities of Southend and Thurrock.
There is a separate Council Tax charge
on all properties in this area to pay for
policing. The following information
summarises the Police Authority’s plan
for policing in 2010/11 and how we will
pay for it.
The vision of Essex Police is for Essex to
be the safest place in the country with
the best policing. We will achieve this by
reducing crime and anti-social behaviour,
reassuring the public, and making the
best use of our resources to deliver a
high-quality service that meets the needs
of local people.
Policing Plan for
2010/11
The Policing Plan sets out the local
policing priorities for 2010/11 and shows
how we will achieve these.
By consulting and working with you,
Essex Police Authority and Essex Police
have identified your main concerns.
These are:
I to reassure you and have a more
visible police presence
I to improve both the timeliness and
the quality of our response to calls for
assistance
I to tackle anti-social behaviour and
disorder
I to make the most efficient and
effective use of resources.
As well as these priorities, the police will
focus on reducing those crimes that
affect you the most, including burglary,
violence, and drug- and alcohol-related
crime. The force will also increase the
number of offenders brought to justice,
while providing a first-class policing
service focused on you.
Essex Police Authority and Essex Police
will build on existing partnerships with
other forces and agencies to strengthen
our capability to tackle the most serious
crimes and incidents.
Policing in Essex is built around
Neighbourhood Policing Teams which
16 | A guide to your Council Tax 2010/11
Funding the plan
The budget below details how Essex
Police Authority will pay for policing in
2010/11. Its commitments are detailed in
the Essex Policing Plan.
Financial settlement
and budget
work closely with local communities and
our partner organisations to identify the
issues that are of most concern and to
seek solutions.
Through Neighbourhood Policing, the
force will increase the number of police
officers you see on the street and will
also increase the amount of face-to-face
contact you will have with them.
Essex Police Authority and Essex Police
are committed to increasing the
confidence of the public in the police
and making sure you are satisfied with
our policing. In line with our
commitments under the Policing Pledge,
we will continue to improve the quality of
our response to your calls and provide
more access to services and information.
The full Policing Plan, which gives more
information about priorities and targets
as well as the Policing Pledge, will be
available on the Essex Police website at
www.essex.police.uk after 31 March 2010.
Essex Police Authority has approved a
budget of £268 million for the force. The
difference between the level of external
funding of £183 million and the budget
set by the Police Authority will be met by
an increase in the Council Tax of 3.02% (a
rise of 7p a week for a band D property).
Service investment
programme
The 2010/11 revenue budget will pay for
a programme of investment in the
service totalling £4 million.
The main areas of investment will include:
I 50 more police officers recruited in
2009/10
I extra capacity in the serious crime teams
I more staff working on custody duties
I Essex Watch staff
I supporting Community Speedwatch.
If you want to get more detailed
financial information please contact
the Financial Services department at
police headquarters:
Phone: 01245 452615
Fax: 01245 452568
Email: [email protected]
www.essex.police.uk | 17
Essex Police Authority planned spending
2009/10
(£ million)
264.46
-4.12
260.34
Net spending
Less use of balances
Budget requirement
Financed by:
Home Office grant
108.37
Revenue Support Grant and Business Rates 69.53
Council Tax
81.94
Surplus on Collection Fund
0.50
2010/11
(£ million)
275.49
-7.62
267.87
Cost per
person (in £)
156.58
111.63
71.40
84.80
0.04
Our pledge to you
Since introducing the Policing Pledge in November 2008, Essex Police has worked hard
to improve the services provided to you. For example you can now contact your local
neighbourhood policing team directly via dedicated mobile telephones and email.
The 10 points of the Policing Pledge describe different parts of the service we
should be providing to you.
For more about the Policing Pledge, visit
www.essex.police.uk/about/policing_pledge.aspx
For more about your neighbourhood policing team and how to contact them, visit
http://www.essex.police.uk/my_neighbourhood.aspx
18 | A guide to your Council Tax 2010/11
Efficiency information
Forecast efficiency
savings by March 2010
£20,640,000
Total effect of forecast
efficiency savings by
March 2010 for band D
£32.31
Average effect of forecast
savings by March 2010
for Police Authorities
per band D property
Actual efficiencies
achieved by March
2009
£12,820,000
£54
Loans
As at 31 March 2010, the Essex Police Authority has no external debt.
Council Tax 2010/11
Band D is used as the base for calculating the tax. There are 641,811 equivalent band D’
properties in Essex. To raise Council Tax income of £84.8 million, a Council Tax (band D)
of £132.12 is required. The other seven bands are fixed in direct proportion to band D:
Band A £88.08
Band B £102.76
Band C £117.44
Band D £132.12
Band E
Band F
£161.48
£190.84
Band G
Band H
£220.20
£264.24
Staff numbers (full-time equivalent)
Estimated provision in budget
Police officers
Police community support officers
Police staff
2009/10
2010/11
3,556
481
2,272
3,636
462
2,134
In addition the force has 650 volunteer special constables available to support our work.
The staffing figures for 2010/11 reflect the estimated budget provision on 31 March 2011.
Equality schemes
Both Essex Police Authority and
Essex Police have equality
schemes that set out:
I how we will promote equality
I how we will identify any
activities and policies that may
affect different communities in
different ways, and
I how we will resolve any issues,
should they occur.
For further details please contact
the Equality and Diversity
Manager on 01245 452988.
www.essex.police.uk | 19
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service
Safety first!
2010 looks set to present some of the
biggest challenges ever faced by the fire
service in Essex. But despite the
pressures, there will be no shortcuts in
providing a first-class response to
emergencies and ensuring frontline
firefighters have the training and tools to
do their jobs safely.
Keeping our communities and our
firefighters safe will always remain the fire
service’s overriding priority.
Faced with the forthcoming cuts in public
spending, we will be relying on the
‘can-do’ tradition of the fire service and
the dedication and commitment of our
employees to keep within our budgets.
It will mean doing things differently,
being innovative in the way we use our
resources and sometimes taking painful
and difficult decisions. And we’ll do this
while protecting jobs and continuing to
invest in new equipment and training, as
well as strengthening the valuable
community safety work that goes on
every day throughout the county.
One sign of our investment is our new
£4.5 million Rayleigh Weir Community Fire
Station. The first of its kind, it was officially
opened in December by Essex County
Council Chairman Cllr Elizabeth Hart and
High Sheriff of Essex Rupert Gosling.
A new base for Hadleigh crews, the
station also puts Basildon and Castle
Point Community Command officers at
the heart of their patch. It offers more
facilities too, for local people and
partner organisations to use.
Rayleigh Weir was built with money from
a public-private partnership with Essex
Autogroup. This has given the fire
service excellent value for money, as
Essex Autogroup provided the land free
of charge and also paid a large amount
of cash to support building costs.
A display of new and innovative vehicles
and equipment were on show to the
20 | A guide to your Council Tax 2010/11
Band
£
Band
£
A
44.28
E
81.18
B
51.66
F
95.94
C
59.04
G
110.70
D
66.42
H
132.84
The figures above are our Council Tax
charge for each property band.
200-plus guests attending the opening,
which had the theme of investment in
frontline services. There was a new
vehicle to put down fire-suppressing
foam, new command support vehicles for
use at large incidents, urban search and
rescue crews and their high-tech
equipment, and a new welfare unit that
crews can call to lengthy incidents.
The fire station will provide expanded
facilities for our highly successful youth
intervention schemes, like FireBreak.
These promote better behaviour in
children and young people who may
have had difficulties at school or been
involved in petty crime and anti-social
behaviour.
In January 2009, we received the first in a
£2.5 million fleet of five new aerial ladder
platforms to replace our aged fleet.
The aerial ladder platforms are currently
based at Colchester, Chelmsford, Harlow,
Southend and Basildon. To improve
efficiency, there’ll be new crewing
arrangements. In the first phase, which
started on 1 October, one crew instead of
two at each station will use both the aerial
ladder platform and the rescue tender.
Forecast
efficiency savings
by March 2010
Forecast
efficiency savings
by March 2010
as % of 2008/09
baseline
spending
Total effect of
forecast
efficiency savings
by March 2010
for band D
Effect of forecast
efficiency savings
by March 2010
for band D
Average effect
of forecast
savings by March
2010 for
authorities of the
same type
£2,509,000
3.6%
£3.93
£957,000
£4.49
For a free home fire safety visit call 0845 601 2495
www.essex-fire.gov.uk | 21
We work hard on equality and diversity
to ensure that our employees are
representative of the communities they
work in. We also aim to ensure our
community safety activities are targeted
at and easily understood by all. This year,
our work on equality was given
independent approval when we achieved
level 3 of the equality standard for local
government. This is the first step on our
journey to excellence – our ultimate goal.
A team of auditors from the Improvement
and Development Agency (IDeA) spent
two days with us conducting a series of
interviews and focus groups. They talked
to staff, senior managers and councillors
before awarding us level 3.
The assessors commended us for the
following things:
I Strong and effective direction and
commitment from the chief fire officer,
councillors and senior management.
I Strong partnerships
I Local stations respond to the needs of
their communities.
I Excellent informative literature.
I Intelligent use of data to give
information to vulnerable people.
I Good two-way communication within
the organisation and externally with
our partners and the community.
I We take an innovative approach to
recruiting people from underrepresented groups.
What we did in 2009
We attended 19,186 incidents
We extinguished 6,736 fires
We saved 104 people from fire
We attended 1,227 road accidents
We attended 8,295 false alarms
We attended 2,732 special service calls
A key part of our communications work is
to involve local people in our decision
making. So we began a consultation plan
called Activ8, which will help us build up
a group of local people who are well
informed about fire-related matters. Then,
when regular and formal consultation
take place, we can rely on them for
useful feedback on decisions and plans.
We also ran a customer satisfaction survey
to find out how you think we are doing on
the priorities you tell us are important to
you. Details of both these schemes are
available on our website: essex-fire.gov.uk
What we’re charging you
Essex Fire Authority charges a separate
amount of Council Tax for properties
covered by Essex County Council and
the two unitary authorities of Southend
and Thurrock.
The cost of providing our services in
2010/11 will be £75.027 million.
To raise the money we need for fire
services, we need to charge a Council Tax
of £66.42 for an average band D property.
This is an increase of 2.79% on last year.
It means that households will be paying
about £1.27 a week in 2010/11 for fire
services – just 18p a day.
For the excellent service we give to
homes and businesses throughout the
county, all day every day, we believe we
offer excellent value for money.
22 | A guide to your Council Tax 2010/11
Essex County Fire and Rescue
Service planned spending
The Essex Fire Authority has approved the
following budget.
£ thousands
2009/10
2010/11
75,736
-2,640
77,299
-2,272
73,096
75,027
5,918
25,638
255
41,285
4,105
28,266
27
42,629
73,096
75,027
Gross expenditure
Income
Budget requirement
What you can do to help
Financed by:
Revenue support grant
Business rates
Collection fund surplus
Council Tax
Total financing
Do more to protect yourself:
Changes in the budget requirement
for 2010/11
£ thousands
Fitting a smoke alarm and testing
it regularly can be the difference
between life and death. You can
do more to help your community
by considering vulnerable people
in your own family and
neighbourhood. Arrange a free
home fire safety visit or simply fit
a smoke alarm for them.
2009/10
73,096
Inflation
1,132
Other changes
799
2010/11 budget requirement
75,027
We are striving to bring down
death and injury in the home and
on the road, so help us to help you.
If you would like our firefighters to
visit your home by appointment
to conduct a free home fire
safety visit, then call our booking
line on 0845 601 2495.
www.essex-fire.gov.uk | 23
More information
Want to know more about our services?
Write to:
Benefits and Revenues
Tendring District Council
88-90 Pier Avenue
Clacton-on-Sea
Essex CO15 1TN.
Email: [email protected]
Phone:
Write to:
Essex County Council
Freepost CL3636
Chelmsford CM1 1LX.
Email: [email protected]
Phone:
I 01255 686868 for general enquiries
I 01255 475566 if you use Minicom
(for the hard of hearing)
I 01255 686822 Council Tax enquiries
01255 686811 Benefit enquiries, or
I 01255 222727 for emergency help out of hours.
I 08457 430 430, or
I 08457 585 592 if you are hard of hearing.
Call in at 88-90 Pier Avenue, Clacton. We are
open between 9am and 4.30pm Monday to
Thursday and 9am to 4pm Fridays.
Our main office is at:
County Hall
Market Road
Chelmsford CM1 1LX.
Visit our website for more information. Or read
our free magazine Tendring Matters, which we
send you twice a year.
For more information about the services we
provide visit our website.
www.tendringdc.gov.uk
www.essex.gov.uk
For more about Essex Police
activities and initiatives write to:
The Marketing and
Communications Manager
Essex Police Headquarters
PO Box 2, Chelmsford CM2 6DA.
Contact us
Essex Police Authority and Essex Police welcome
your views about the service we provide.
Essex Police
Essex Police Headquarters, PO Box 2,
Springfield, Chelmsford, Essex CM2 6DA.
Non-emergency number: 0300 333 4444
Emergency number: 999 (if you see a crime or
serious incident happening, or you think
someone is at serious risk of injury or there is a
risk of serious damage to property)
Essex Police Authority
Chief Executive, 3 Hoffmanns Way,
Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1GU.
Phone: 01245 291600
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.essex.police.uk/authority
www.essex.police.uk
24 | A guide to your Council Tax 2010/11
Write to:
Essex County Fire and
Rescue Service
Kelvedon Park, Rivenhall,
Witham, Essex CM8 3HB.
Email: [email protected]
Phone:
I 01376 576000.
Firefighters currently visit homes for
free to give you advice about fire
safety and to fit smoke alarms. Phone
0845 601 2495 if you would like
someone to contact you.
You can find out more about our services by
visiting our website.
www.essex-fire.gov.uk
For every tree used to make our paper, another is planted.