The Leader of the Council referred to the Council Tax rate which would be set at this meeting and he was pleased to announce that this represented just a 51p per week rise for a Band D property. Further, he felt that this had not impacted on service delivery as the Council had recently been awarded a 3 Star CPA Rating (out of a possible 4 stars). The Leader stressed the importance of keeping tax increases low whilst keeping service levels high. The Council’s priorities were based on working with partners and local communities, to raise educational achievement for all children, to make our services excellent for every resident, to build strong and safe and to put people first. The Leader of the Opposition spoke in response.