TAXPAYERS in Uttlesford will see no increase in the district share of their Council Tax bills after the council agreed to freeze Council Tax.

At a meeting last night (Thursday) Uttlesford District Council agreed its budget for 2011/12 and set the level of Council Tax payable from April.

Essex County Council and the Police and Fire authorities have also decided not to raise their share of Council Tax, which means the only rise Uttlesford residents will see is if their town or parish council has decided to raise its precept.

The �8,169,330 revenue budget agreed will see an extra �20,000 put into the litter picking budget and �90,000 extra allocated to disabled facilities grants.

The budget also ensures that the same amount of money available this year for local voluntary organisations will be available next year.

Leader of the council Cllr Jim Ketteridge said: “This budget is the result of months of hard work during which time all areas of spending have been carefully scrutinised to make sure the council is concentrating on the right things.

“As well as protecting the services that residents rely on, the budget also delivers �800,000 of necessary savings. This accounts for approaching half of the �2 million we need to save over the next few years due to cuts in our level of central government funding.

“I am very pleased that the council has been able to deliver this budget.

“Make no mistake, the next few years will not be easy for any local authority, but Uttlesford District Council is better placed than many to deal with the challenges that lie ahead.”

Chairman of the Finance and Administration Committee Cllr Robert Chambers said: “Residents can be assured that the district council will be able to carry on delivering the good quality services they expect.

“Members will be carrying out those priorities which you, the public, have asked us to do. The council is always interested in your views so please get in touch should you have any queries.”

For every �1 of Council Tax, Essex County Council gets 73p, Uttlesford District Council gets 10p, Essex Police Authority receives 9p, Essex Fire Authority receives 4p and town/parish councils receive an average of 4p.

The revenue budget covers all the day-to-day spending of the council except for its housing, which has a separate budget called the Housing Revenue Account. There is also a separate budget for major projects, called the Capital Programme. Both these were also approved last night.