I am delighted to propose this year’s budget to Council, in what is the first building block of placing the Vale on a stronger financial footing. We have taken the situation that we have inherited, which was one of struggling from year to year, and looking at fresh rounds of cuts in order to balance the books, and now we are setting the Council on the path to a better future. By delivering our manifesto commitment to freeze council tax for a further year we will be keeping tax at just £116.69, the 14th lowest in the country. This is a welcome boost to hard pressed families who are struggling with rising prices. We at the Vale can do our bit to keep bills as low as possible, and thanks to the use of the Government’s council tax freeze grant we are able to do just that. We have protected public services, there have been no cuts to frontline services provided by the Council. We have managed the process of budget setting to drive efficiency whilst ensuring that the core services, valued by the public we serve are maintained. We are continuing to find efficiency savings through joint working with South Oxfordshire District Council. In this year alone we will be saving nearly half a million pounds. The changes which are being driven partly through the Fit For The Future programme will not just generate financial savings, but also service improvements as the Council becomes more customer focused. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our officers, in every department across the Council, who are rising to the challenge of providing better, more efficient services to the public. We are determined to continue supporting those hardest hit by our difficult financial times. That is why the Abingdon Citizens Advice Bureau and the Wantage Independent Advice Centre will both receive a significant boost, with a 16% increase in their funding. These centres provide vital services, and whilst the previous administration penalised them with real terms cuts, we are determined to recognise the role they play supporting the most vulnerable in society and will help them to continue this work into the future. We are introducing a one hundred thousand pound capital grants scheme, to be administered by local councillors. This is a 25% increase in the funding provided to community groups by the previous administration, it will not be top sliced by the Cabinet as before, and it is funded for the next five years. This will help to reconnect local people with their elected representatives, by giving more funding power to councillors. We have provided funding for the extension of our free wi-fi scheme to each of the Vale’s towns, and are recognising youth excellence with a £5,000 young achievers award. We are also introducing funding to help you people to get a foot on the property ladder by introducing a half a million pound scheme to help first-time buyers. This is alongside our ongoing efforts to recover from the dismal performance of previous years to deliver affordable housing in the district. On top of all this we are committed to funding our 2hr free parking scheme. We have achieved this without the use of new homes bonus money, as we had originally anticipated, and it has now become part of the core services provided by the council and is delivered at no extra cost to residents. This successful and widely acclaimed policy is delivered along with all of our other council services for just thirty-two pence a day. We are delivering our promise of making economic development central to what the Vale does, and we will not back away from this. In this vain we are continue our support for business partnership such as Choose Abingdon and Science Vale UK, and will be looking to expand and set up new partnerships across the district, so that everyone can benefit. We are also committed to ensuring that funding for infrastructure comes with housing. That is why we have set aside up to four and a half million pounds from the new homes bonus to support local community investment. The Cabinet will be consulting on a policy later this year to identify suitable projects that meet community need. The new homes bonus received from the Government is being held in reserve until these projects have been identified. Only then will any funding be committed. In this year’s budget, not a single penny of new homes bonus will be used to support core services. Last year the now Opposition proposed not a single project for the new homes bonus, yet they will happily claim that every penny should be spent on ring-fenced items. Are they bringing forward proposals this evening of how they would achieve that? No they are not. If we were to take the advice they have offered previously we would be cutting public services instead of protecting them. Closing public toilets, closing car parks, and cutting grants to the most vulnerable in our district. Instead we have put forward plans that will ensure millions of pounds can be put into infrastructure projects to deal with the pressure of new housing. We have also built into the budget flexibility to deal with the uncertain times ahead. The Government’s proposed changes to local government finance remain unclear, and it would be reckless to presume that our funding will not decline further in the forthcoming years. This is why we have ensured that our balances are strong, and we never again get to the situation which occurred under the previous administration where we fall within thousands of pounds of our minimum requirement. Our flexibility will also allow us to put more money into infrastructure projects should the financial situation improve. Unlike the party opposite who would rather cut council services for the entire community, rather than put in place a sensible policy to help promote local infrastructure along with housing. We can see from the proposed amendments this evening – produced just hours before the meeting – why the Vale got into such financial difficulties in the past. We are about to hear proposals for over £800,000 worth of spending – that is 32 years of work for someone on a average salary. And yet not a word on how they would find a single penny of this. Inevitably they would lead to council tax rises, and cuts in public services such as closing public toilets. In the future we will have greater stability and greater clarity. This is set to be an exciting year for the Vale. We will see the refurbishment of the Abbey Shopping Centre, plans moving forward for the redevelopment of the West Way, and the start of the process to bring a new leisure provision to the Wantage & Grove area. This budget is the first major step to improving the Vale, and I commend it to the Council. What a contrast we have been presented with this evening. On this side of the chamber we have presented a strong, positive budget proposal. One that will set the Vale on the right track. The opposition have failed to put forward any credible alternative. We have had short-termism and opportunism, all of which would result in cuts to public services. No proposals have been made as to how any of these schemes would be paid for. What these proposals would mean is jeopardising public services for the future and less money for community infrastructure. Anyone opposing tonight’s budget should explain to the community groups who would benefit from the hundred-thousand pounds of capital investment, or those using the advice centres which will be receiving one-hundred and fifty thousand pounds, or those looking to buy their first home who could benefit from our new half a million pounds home buy scheme, why they should suffer for the sake of the Lib Dems political motivated opposition. We have seen the alternative. It would be council tax rises. Spending of the New Homes Bonus should be done by proper consultation with the public – not dreamt up by the previous failed administration just a few hours before our meeting. By contrast supporting tonight’s budget is for those who wish to see improvements across the district, better financial management, and investment in the services and projects that the public support. In adopting this year’s budget we are setting in motion our Vale Vision – a new, brighter outlook for the Vale of White Horse.