Cutbacks to ease your Council Tax bill

If accepted by the full council, the resultant 22p a week increase in Rother's portion of the Council Tax would just scrape under the 10 per cent hurdle.

The ruling Conservative group hopes this will be enough to avoid Rother being capped by Local Government Minister Nick Raynsford.

Rother receives about 10 per cent of the average family's total Council Tax, the lions share being charged by East Sussex County Council. Monday's Town Hall session opened with a 3,000-word budget statement by leader Cllr Graham Gubby.

It ended with a proposed package of measures which, crucially, avoid the staff cuts, public toilet closures and severing of cash lifelines to essential voluntary organisations such as the Citizens' Advice Bureau identified by scrutiny committees.

Bexhill and Battle MP Greg Barker has won an adjournment debate in the House on Monday, forcing the Minister to explain why Rother - which is again losing out badly in Government funding - should face being capped.

But councillors fear the Minister's response will be, in Cllr Gubby's words, political "bull and bluster." They dare not pin their hopes on the Minister throwing Rother a financial lifeline. Cllr Gubby told cabinet colleagues: "As much as it hurts, I think we have to cut below 10 per cent..."

A huge screen linked to a computer enabled the effect of each cost-saving on the amount Council Tax payer will shell out from April to be displayed immediately. Every 40,000 represents one per cent in Council Tax terms.

The potential Council Tax increase stood at 21.1 per cent as the process started.

By increasing car parking charges, planning and building control fees it is estimated that an additional 95,000 can be raised - subject to consumer-resistance.

The screen still showed a 28p week increase - 12.5 per cent

A moratorium on filling staff vacancies would save 30,000 - 26p.

Reducing revenue contributions to the capital programme brought the percentage rise to a tantalising 10.84 per cent or 24p week.

Changing the medium-term financial strategy to save 44,000 brought the increase down to 22p a week and the percentage rise to 9.8 per cent. Would it be enough?

Director of resources Dr Pave Ramewal said it could be June before the Minister made a decision on capping.

He warned that if the Minister insisted on revised new Council Tax bills going in part-way through the year the cost would be high.

Council chairman Cllr Robin Patten said as the debate ended: "It seems to me that we are heaping trouble on ourselves for next year.

"Next year there is going to be no fat to go on and it is going to be ten times worse. Rother does deliver its services well - and I am speaking as a rural councillor (Marsham- i.e Fairlight and Pett).

"But if you think this year is difficult where are we going to find economies next year?"