Residents in the Vale of White Horse are set to receive a welcome boost this year following the proposal to freeze the district’s council tax rates for the second year running. Cllr Matthew Barber, cabinet member for finance and leader of Vale of White Horse District Council, will this week propose a budget for 2012/13 which includes setting council tax as the same rate as last year. This means that a council tax payer living in the Vale of White Horse will continue to pay just £116.69 for services provided by the district council, which in 2011/12 was the 14th lowest rate in country. There is further good news for residents as no cuts to frontline services are included in the proposed budget. This means that services such as public conveniences, arts and services for young people, which the Vale provides, will not be affected. Local groups will also benefit in the coming year with the community grants budget set to rise from £80,000 to £100,000, including an extra £10,000 and £5,000 allocated to the Wantage and Abingdon Citizens Advice Bureaus. From this April young people will also benefit, with £250,000 being allocated to a new scheme aiming to help people get on the housing ladder, and £5,000 towards a new young achievers’ scheme which will provide grants to talented young people who make a significant contribution to life in the district. Money will be set aside to investigate the possibilities for a new leisure centre in the Wantage and Grove area, which will be required to go alongside any increase in housing and population in the next few years. The proposals also includes the continuation of the popular two hours free parking scheme in district council car parks across the Vale, as well as the rolling out of free public Wi-Fi, already in Wantage, across Abingdon and Faringdon town centres. The proposed budget will be presented to cabinet on Friday 10 February. It will then go to Council for approval on Wednesday 22 February. Cllr Matthew Barber, said: “Thanks to significant annual savings which we have achieved through internal efficiencies and shared working our finances are in a lot better shape than they were a couple of years ago. This means that residents will benefit from council tax being frozen for the second year and will not have to experience the cuts to frontline district council services felt elsewhere.” “2012/13 is set to be a really exciting year for the Vale, with the refurbishment of Abbey Shopping Centre, the start of the process to bring a new leisure provision to the Wantage and Grove area, and for the first time, a scheme to properly recognise the contribution that talented young people make to our community.” From www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk