EAST Hampshire District Council (EHDC) has hit national television, radio and newspaper headlines as the only local authority in the country to be cutting council tax.

EHDC rose to fame after a survey by the Press Association, involving all 353 councils in England, revealed that the vast majority were increasing tax by the maximum permitted.

Twenty-two said they were freezing tax, but East Hampshire stood out as the only council to cut its share of the annual tax bill.

The survey prompted widespread coverage of the district council’s pioneering approach.

EHDC leader Ferris Cowper said: “I want people to understand there is a completely different way of running the public sector. Does the public sector need to have handouts from the Government? Does it need to levy a tax on people? Why can’t it work out ways in which public services can be wholly or partly funded from other sources of income?”

He continued: “East Hampshire District Council is maintaining a very low cost base for our services. That does not mean we are cutting services, but we are always looking to make them more efficient.

“We are also opening up new opportunities to raise income outside of the traditional sources.

“We have made several successful investments in commercial properties and we have been able to sell our services to other local authorities or to the private sector.”

And he added: “This is a new financial model which will rethink how public sector finances are delivered and these principles can be followed by any other public sector organisation.”