Rochford District Council staff are working harder than ever to ensure it offers its residents value for money.

The Council’s latest Financial Statement – published last month – gives details of how money has been spent and saved.  Once again, Rochford has shown that, despite having one of the lowest Government grant funding levels, it continues to control spending and save money.

As an example, in the recent financial year 2008/9, actual savings are currently estimated at about £400,000.  Without this saving, the Council would have had to use additional reserves or reduce spending on some services.

Savings include:

• Improvements in recovering overpayments of benefits (£78,000)
• Reducing the costs of repairs and maintenance by setting targets (£27,000)
• Advertising vacancies internally, in local papers and the job centre (£25,000)
• Using different ways of delivering training rather than expensive class-based courses (£7,000)

Councillor Peter Webster, Portfolio Holder for Finance and Resources said:

“Our Council is determined to stay in the top 25 per cent  for resident satisfaction and high levels of performance. Rochford has shown that, despite having one of the lowest Government grant funding levels, it continues to save money and reduce spending.  We will also continue to keep close scrutiny over Council money.”