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Rossendale Borough Council

In Lancashire we have what is called a “two tier” system of local government. That means that we have a County Council providing some of the local services and 12 District Councils that provide others. One of these Districts is Rossendale Borough Council.

Rossendale is situated in the east of Lancashire and covers an area of about 137.6 square kilometres. It has a population of around 65,000 people, 2.5 per cent of which are from a minority ethnic background. It is made up of several towns, the main ones being Bacup, Haslingden, Rawtenstall and Whitworth.

What services does the Borough Council provide? top ^

The Borough Council provides a number of local services for the people of Rossendale including the provision of Council houses, street cleaning, refuse services including emptying the bins and recycling, providing leisure facilities, swimming pools, Environmental Health Services like the dog warden service and noise control and is also the local planning authority which means looking at applications to build new properties or alter existing buildings to make sure they are safe and meet local requirements.

How much money does the Borough Council spend? top ^

In the year from April 2004 to March 2005, the Borough Council estimates that its total revenue spending will be £33.657m. £24.276m will be raised through grants, rent, fees and charges, leaving a budget requirement of £9.381m which will be met from other sources like Council Tax and Business rates. Just like the County Council, most of the money comes from the government and the Council Tax and it also charges for some of its services.

How does it spend the money and what does it do?

Elections & Administration top ^

The Corporate Support Administration Team is part of the Council’s Corporate Support Department. The Team deals with Elections and all of the Council's meetings, from issuing agendas to producing minutes.

It involves ensuring that a calendar of meetings is established, that the relevant papers are published at the appropriate time, that the meetings are conducted in a proper and lawful manner and that sufficient time is allowed for decisions to be called in for scrutiny if required.

The administration team also provides support to Members and deals with queries they may have over procedure.

Culture & Leisure top ^

Culture & Leisure Services is responsible for ensuring that the Cultural Themes of the Community Plan are delivered. They work closely with Rossendale Leisure Trust who will be managing the Council's leisure facilities, Sports Development, Arts Development & Health Promotion Unit.

Council Tax Benefit & Housing Benefit top ^

Housing & Council Tax Benefit is provided to help people who live in the area and who are on low incomes pay rent and/or Council Tax. The Council receive and process over 5,714 new application forms annually and pays in excess of £15M in benefits to over 6,000 claimants

Housing top ^

The Council owns approximately 4,000 Council homes across the Rossendale District. These properties include houses, flats, maisonettes and bungalows, as well as some "sheltered" accommodation for the elderly. The Council provides a repairs service to all its Council homes.

The Private Sector Housing Section deals with issues principally concerning private housing in Rossendale and in particular the promotion of safe and healthy living conditions in private homes. The Section does this by providing advice, information, support and encouragement to house owners and private tenants.

Council Tax & Business Rates top ^

The Council is responsible for collecting the Council Tax which helps to pay for the services provided by the District and County Councils, the Lancashire Police Authority and, in some areas, the Parish Council.

Business rates are the way which businesses and others who occupy non-domestic property make a contribution towards the cost of local services. Business rates are pooled by central government and redistributed to local Councils according to the number of people living in the area.

Development Control top ^

The Section annually receives over 700 planning applications a year and deals with enquiries from the public on all sorts of issues from the need for planning permission to erect a building in a garden to the development of a housing estate.

Building Control top ^

The Building Control Department ensure that any building work in Rossendale meets national standards to secure a built environment that is safe, healthy, energy efficient and accessible.

Environmental Services top ^

A clean green and safe environment is the aim of Rossendale Borough Council. Over the next three years they are looking at ways to improve the cleanliness of all areas in the Borough and work in partnership with voluntary groups and other bodies to make Rossendale Bloom, with more flowers, hanging baskets and colourful flowerbeds in the Town Centre and along its Main Roads. They are aiming to remove Graffiti, fly tipping and abandoned cars as soon as they occur.

In October 2002 the Council launched a new recycling service called Waste Not Want Not, since October 2002, 26,000 Blue recycling bins have been distributed to residents for Recycling Glass/Cans and Plastics. Kerbside Boxes and Recycling Sacks have been distributed for Paper Recycling. The Council have also provided 4500 Brown Bins for collecting Green Waste for Composting.

Community Safety top ^

The Rossendale Community Safety Partnership is made up of senior representatives from Rossendale Borough Council, Lancashire County Council, the Police Authority, the Health Authority, and the Probation Service. This partnership produces a Strategy every 3 years for reducing crime and disorder. The aim is to make Rossendale a safe place for people to live, visit and work in. The priorities are to reduce vehicle crime, to reduce criminal damage, to reduce burglary and theft and retail crime, to reduce violent crime, to tackle drug and alcohol misuse and to tackle anti-social behaviour and nuisance.

Environmental Health top ^

The Environmental Health Department’s main purpose is to protect and improve the environment in which we live. It makes sure the food we eat is fit for human consumption and doesn’t have things in it that shouldn’t be there. It supervises improvements to the air we breathe, controls the noise from factories and large buildings and runs Rossendale’s Markets.

Rossendale Borough Council provides lots more services for the residents of the Borough including Regeneration, e-government, Economic Development, Forward Planning, Land Searches, Cemeteries, Parks & Playgrounds for further information on these services please visit its web site at www.rossendale.gov.uk

Constitutional details – how the authority works?

About the Council top ^

The Council consists of 36 local Councillors, representing local people in 14 wards across the Borough.

The Council presently meets seven times a year and under the constitution has to approve certain Council plans and policies. The Annual Council meeting is held once a year during which Members of the Executive and Committees are appointed and the Authority’s representatives on other bodies are selected.

Executive top ^

Meetings of the Executive take place every four weeks; the meeting is held in Rossendale Town Hall and is open to the public. The Executive is made up of eight Councillors, including the Leader of the Council. Councillors on the Executive are called Executive Members. The role of the Executive is to implement all decisions within existing Council policy and budgets and to advise the Full Council on policies, plans, strategies and the Council budget. Individual members of the Executive cannot make decisions on their own.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee top ^

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee review and scrutinises the decisions taken by the Executive. It also supports the Executive by developing areas and monitors performance.

Development Control Committee top ^

This Committee deals with applications for planning permission. If somebody wants to build a new building or extend an existing building, they may need to get permission. For some applications officers can give permission. For big buildings like supermarkets and schools the decision is made by the Committee. Planning is important because the Council wants to make sure that there are enough houses, factories, jobs and open spaces so that Rossendale is a great place to live

Licensing Committee top ^

This Committee helps protect the public by issuing licences to people who want to provide services to the public. For example Taxi Drivers. Every taxi driver must pass several tests and their car must be safe before they can have a licence to drive the public.

Audit Committee top ^

The Audit Committee helps to make sure that the Council does not break any rules and spends its money properly. It makes sure that staff only use the Councils money, equipment and buildings for Council Services. Council staff cannot use Council property for their own use.

What other things do Councillors do? top ^

As well as serving on the Executive Board and Overview and Scrutiny, Councillors will spend more time representing the communities they were elected to serve. All Members still have an input into policy development and budget formulation through their role on the full Council.

The Role of the Mayor top ^

The post of Mayor of Rossendale is a ceremonial one. The Mayor is chosen by the other members of the Council based on length of service as a member of the Council. The Mayor serves in that role for one year and is chair of the Council. A duty of the Mayor is to represent the Borough at events that may be Local, National or International. The Mayor will attend hundreds of events during his or her year of office. The Mayor also raises money for local charities.

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