TORY group bosses at Hyndburn Council said they would not table alternative budget proposals last year.

Group leader Cllr Tony Dobson said last year, his group had come up with suggestions which Labour members ultimately dismissed.

And he said this year, his group had taken the decision to work with Labour on the budget rather than taking up time coming up with alternatives which would not be adopted.

"Last year we spent quite some time on a budget and the leader at the time welcomed some of the ideas but at full council there were a whole range of objections as to why they couldn't go forward.

"With that in mind, we are not proposing to put a budget forward this year but will work with the controlling group instead."

Labour bosses are proposing to make about £646,000 in cuts from Hyndburn Council’s revenue budget from 2019/20, with three-quarters proposed to be taken from back office areas.

The borough’s resources chief, Cllr Joyce Plummer, said the proposed budget for next year avoided the need for any compulsory redundancies and protected front-line services.

And council tax was only rising by two per cent, one of the lowest in the country, she said.

The council's revenue budget for 2019/2020 is proposed to be set at £10.995 million.During the financial year, deputy cief executive Joe McIntyre will be given delegated powers to amend the budget (following consultation

with the Leader of the Council) for technical reasons, such as the restructuring of cost centres or the re-apportionment and re-allocation of overheads, as long as amendments have an overall neutral impact on the budget.

And if business rates estimates do not prove to be accurate, Mr McIntyre will also have powers to by draw on reserves if needed or pay over additional contributions to reserves.

Cllr Plummer added: "In setting the budget for 2019/20 the council faces continued volatility around some of the most significant items within its budget.

"Major reforms of local government finance have transferred the risk of business rate revenues and council tax benefits to the council for the first time.

"The certainty on which the council could budget and manage its finances has therefore decreased since 2013 and it will be important going forward to plot any deviations away from the expected figures and take appropriate action if these should start to

emerge.

"This might result in the need to reduce spending during the year, if revenue analysis during the year starts to indicate the amounts of funds received will fall short of the target."