Thank you for taking the time to read the Council’s Summary of its financial results for 2005/06.
The Council has recently tackled some major issues including surplus places in primary and secondary schools, the modernisation of services for elderly people and the need to improve recycling rates, and we have done this against a back drop of competing and increasing demands for council services and an extremely low level of support from central Government.
The Council is proud of the fact that it is a low taxing, low spending and low borrowing authority and even prouder that the Audit Commission has classed Bury as the second most efficient metropolitan Council in the country. We receive the 3rd lowest amount of government support per person of all similar authorities and to demonstrate the effect of this; if we received the same level of grant per person as our neighbours in Blackburn then we would be £45m a year better off! Fighting Bury’s corner with Ministers will continue to be a major priority.
Despite our low funding and low spending, the Council has turned in a superb performance over the past 12 months:
- the results achieved by our schools are nothing short of brilliant;
- Children’s Services received a 3* rating in their annual performance assessment;
- more and more elderly people are being supported so that they can live in their own homes;
- refuse recycling rates are up again with the Council meeting its target of 18%;
- the borough is getting even cleaner with the Council scoring highly against the national ‘Cleanliness lndex’
- our parks attracted 8 Green Flag awards last year;
- once again, the borough won the top prize in the 2005 North West in Bloom Competition (Large Town category).
This summary has been produced to make the accounts easier to understand. It provides details of the Council’s spending during 2005/06 including Education, Children’s Care Services, Culture, Adult Care Services, Housing, Leisure, Roads, Environment, Economic Development, Planning, Chief Executive’s department and other services.
Local Government finance is an increasingly complex subject and to assist the reader a glossary of the main terms and acronyms has also been included.
This summary should be read in conjunction with the 2005/06 Statement of Accounts and the 2006/07 Budget Book, both of which are available from our website and from your local council office or library. If you have any questions or you would like to find out more information about Bury’s finances then I have included a list of useful contacts at the back of this document.
Councillor Mike Connolly
Deputy Leader of the Council and Executive Member for Quality Council (Resource and Performance)
“Our long term vision for the Borough of Bury is to make it a great place in which to live, work, visit and study”
