This is what I and my fellow Conservatives who run Tandridge District Council decided last month. Indeed despite the significant cuts in Government grant brought about by the need to reduce the Country’s budget deficit, the local Conservative councils serving Oxted and Hurst Green have voted not to raise the rate of council tax this year.
Indeed Tandridge District Council has found savings of around 10% without having to sack a single member of staff, cut a single frontline service or borrow a single pound. Instead, it has managed to save this money by working with other authorities to cut IT and administrative costs, by earning more money from recycling and by constantly improving the way it delivers services, to provide more for less.
While the Labour Government spent taxpayers’ money like it was going out of fashion, Conservative Tandridge prudently prepared for the tough times ahead. We have been running efficient services, we implemented a recruitment freeze to avoid the painful process of making staff redundant and have kept the Council out of debt.
Tandridge has been able to increase frontline services rather than cutting them. For instance unlike other local Councils who have had to switch to a fortnightly bin collection, Tandridge residents continue to benefit from both weekly refuse and recycling collections and are now able to have their garden waste collected as well.
