Money in the Bank at Year-End

11.08.21pm BST (GMT +0100) Sun 26th Jun 2005

Good financial management by the Liberal Democrat Administration gets Milton Keynes Council to its year-end in March with money in the bank.

Provisional figures show a significant change with both the General Fund and the Housing Revenue Account in credit at the end of the financial year ending March 31st.

Managers across the organisation have succeeded in achieving a range of savings and efficiency improvements, which with careful management of budgets throughout the year has delivered the best figures for many years.

Councillor Sam Crooks, Liberal Democrat cabinet member for Finance, said: "By improving cash flow, rescheduling debt and closely managing our partnership with HBS we have managed to make significant contributions to the Council's overall position.

"We still face many challenges in future on the funding of growth but we can move forward on a firm financial footing. This will now allow us to look at positive choices and opportunities.

"This all comes back to the good financial management regime that the Liberal Democrats introduced to reverse the mess left by Labour."

Across the individual Directorates savings have been made in Learning & Development while in Environment, Neighbourhood Services and the Chief Executive's Office increased income has helped deliver an overall surplus of £3.4 million.