On Wednesday next week, a meeting of the Full Council will consider the budget which has been proposed by the all-party Executive. After we delivered a small council tax cut last year, I am pleased to report that we are again proposing to freeze bills for local households. While the Council is in a well-reported extremely difficult financial situation, with large cuts in government funding and factors such as inflation hitting it hard, times are tough for local residents and it is vital that the Council does not put more pressure on household budgets through the council tax bill. Under the former County Council, local households had to contend with year after year of inflation-busting rises. We're putting a stop to that, and I have pledged to ensure that over my four-year term of office Council tax bills will have gone up by less than inflation, i.e. a real-terms cut.
A message from Vince Cable MP, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills:
It was a year ago this month that we introduced a new, 'rapid response' Pothole Hit Squad service in order to repair more potholes, more efficiently, right across the Borough. We invested in new equipment which sees vehicles carrying a mobile 'hot box,' keeping the tar hot and ready to use while the teams are out and about. After years and years of chronic underinvestment in our roads, we have made huge efforts in the fightback to make our roads safe for all road users, and the improved pothole repair work sits alongside the increased resurfacing work as a key part of this drive.
Mayor Dave Hodgson is calling on all Councillors in the Borough to back him in asking the Chief Executive of Bedford Borough Council to write to fuel retailers and suppliers in Bedford to ask them to reduce the price of their fuel for residents in Bedford Borough.