Statement of Accounts 2004-2005

 

I am pleased to welcome you to the Council's Statement of Accounts for 2004/05.

 

The Government's Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) continues to have a major influence throughout local government whereby each local authority's performance is assessed by the Audit Commission based on performance information that is produced from a variety of sources. The Accounts play a vital part in this as they provide information on the Council's financial performance to a wide range of interested parties. They show how we've spent our money, how we've performed against our budget and how we've invested in our assets.

 

Bury Council is a low spending, low taxing and low borrowing authority. On average we spend 15% per person less than the other nine Greater Manchester Councils, our Council tax is 8% less than that of these other Councils and we owe 30% less per person as well. Whilst much of this is due to the prudent approach taken by the Council it is also true to say that over the past 10 years Bury has been hit particularly hard by Central Government controls on our finances. In 2004/05 the Council received a lower than expected settlement from Central Government. We therefore remain committed to fighting for a better deal for Bury when it comes to the way that Government funding is shared out between Councils.

 

The Council takes its financial responsibilities very seriously. The Accounts demonstrate that we have continued to exercise tight control over our finances. We have kept our spending to within budget and the difference between what we spent and what we planned to spend is less than 1% of our total budget. Given our gross revenue expenditure of more than £440million this is a very commendable performance. More than £30million has been invested on improving the assets that are so vital to the quality of the services that we aim to provide.

 

However, there are ever increasing demands on the Council's services and this will clearly put our budget under pressure in the years to come. We are improving the way that we set and monitor our budget and more detailed three-year budgets have been developed that allow the Council to take a longer term view of its budget strategy in order to link it more directly to the Council's aims and objectives and its service plans. We also bring together the regular reporting of budget and service performance to make clearer the links between spending and outcomes.

 

The Council is committed to obtaining "Best Value" from all of its services and the preparation and presentation of the Accounts continues to be influenced by the Best Value Accounting Code of Practice which sets out to modernise the system of local authority accounting to ensure that it meets the changed and changing needs of modern local government.

 

Finally I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the Council's Members and officers who have played a part in the production of these Accounts and who have contributed to the sound financial performance that they demonstrate. In 2004/05 the budget for the year was overseen by my colleague, Wayne Campbell, the Executive Member for Resource at the time, and I am extremely grateful for the work that he put into the process. I would also like to say thank you to everyone who takes the time to read the Accounts; I hope you find them helpful and informative.