Spotlight on Annual Report transcript
Harry Dyke, Chief Executive of Allerdale Borough Council, said: “It has been a
challenging year for Allerdale Borough Council. We have started a Transformation
Programme which aims to make the Council excellent. We are engaging with our
communities so that our future priorities meet their needs and we have had to reduce
our budget and staffing levels by over 15 per cent.
“In the midst of all this we have had to deal with a major flooding catastrophe which
devastated many of our communities. We dealt with all these issues extremely well
and are equipped to move ahead whilst recognising that there are likely to be major
financial pressures forced upon us by reductions in government grants.
“During the traumatic flooding of November 2009, so many of our staff went that
extra mile to help the communities in which they live. They also had to cope with
personal difficulties and problems caused by the effects of the floods – such as road
closures and the flooding of the properties of family, friends, and even themselves –
but they came together brilliantly as one team to tackle the emergency.
“The flood was, of course, dramatic and the emergency itself and the recovery was a
very major issue for the Council. We offered advice and support through our
emergency reception centres and call centre; we re-housed people flooded from
their homes; distributed sandbags; removed waste and debris and helped with our
Building Control officers in the subsequent clean up and, with the help of our
numerous partners, renovated properties.”
Councillor Tim Heslop, Leader of Allerdale Borough Council, said: “Our response to
the initial flooding emergency and the continued recovery has proved how our
communities can benefit from us working in partnership with other organisations. We
offered our land to the county council so that temporary road and footbridges could
be built rapidly to re-unite families and friends in the Workington area.
“Allerdale Borough Council’s initiative in employing the Cockermouth flood recovery
co-ordinator, and working with local groups on re-invigorating town centre trade
through the Georgian shop front heritage scheme, has been a huge success in
regenerating the town. Everyone’s working really well together with the common aim
of turning around the fortunes of the area.”
Harry Dyke said: “We mustn’t forget that the national economic downturn and
increasing limitations on public spending have increased the financial pressures on
all councils throughout the country. The aim of our Transformation Programme is to
evaluate and re-equip ourselves so that we are a council offering quality services
that meet the needs of our communities but which are at an affordable and
sustainable cost.”
Councillor Tim Heslop said: “A cross-party working group of councillors made some
difficult decisions about which services the Council should provide and how they
should be delivered.
“We’ve made a good start in terms of trying to introduce the savings in this year’s
budget to make us leaner and more efficient – such as reducing the size of our
senior management team.”
Harry Dyke said: “We’ve managed our budget very successfully in the past and we
shall continue to do so – monitoring all council services to see how we can best
provide them.
“We’re making great strives to transform the organisation – with a new corporate
plan that sets out what we want to achieve. In essence it’s about moving us towards
being an excellent council – but more particularly, we are determined to meet the
needs of our residents. Our organisational improvement plan sets out the way we
can do this, and we are talking with our customers to find out what their priorities
are.”
Councillor Tim Heslop said: “In light of the nationwide government cuts, it’s
exceedingly likely that yet more difficult decisions will have to be made. We remain
committed to consulting with our communities to get their help in determining how
those decisions should be made.
“In the interest of maintaining good value for our customers, we shall continue to
explore whether we can share some of our services through working in partnership
with other organisations – so that the Council can be as effective and efficient as
possible.”
Harry Dyke said: “Over the last few years, Allerdale Borough Council has
consistently set the lowest district council tax level in Cumbria. This year, we
ensured, once again, that our portion of the council tax remains by far the lowest,
while still providing excellent council services.”
Councillor Tim Heslop said: “In 2010-11 the Allerdale Borough Council portion of the
council tax for Band D properties is £144.17 – that means an increase of just £2.69
for the year –equivalent to 5p per week.”
“We are proud to keep our council tax costs as low as possible in these difficult
economic times – the effects of which the Council is itself experiencing – while still
maintaining excellent value for money in the services that we offer our residents.”