Portion of council tax frozen in Clowne, Whitwell, Creswell and Barlborough

Bolsover Council is to freeze its council tax for 2014/15 for the fourth year in a row.

This comes despite the council, which has a budget of £11.87 million next year, losing £4.5million in Government grants over the past two years, with a further £1.5million forecast over the next two years.

Council leader, Coun Eion Watts, said the council had ended the year in a very strong position and was determined to protect frontline services.

“Considering where we started, it is extremely pleasing to see how we have dealt with the continual reduction in our budget and protected frontline services and jobs,” he said.

“Times are tough at present, not just for council’s but for everyone, and we feel we have a responsibility to our residents not to increase their household bills any more than they already have been.

“So we have managed to freeze our portion of the council tax through sound financial management and the hard work of our staff, who have come up with some innovative ideas to help increase our income and help stave off any increase.”

“However, we can’t rest on our laurels as we don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, so we are putting plans in place to make sure we are prepared for the worst.”

Bolsover Council only receives around 10 per cent from each council tax bill. The remainder goes to Derbyshire County Council, Derbyshire Police and Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service - which have all raised their council tax - and parish and town councils.

For a typical Band A property, the average total bill across the district is £1,071.77.