IPSWICH: A �1million-plus package aimed at stimulating the town’s economy is at the heart of the borough’s budget for next year.

The proposed budget will see the borough’s element of council tax bills frozen – but efficiency savings and changes of priorities by the Labour administration which returned to power last May are aimed at putting money into the town.

Today’s news is another shot-in-the-arm for Ipswich, which is also hosting The Beacon Town Conference, organised under the Star’s “I Love Ipswich” banner on February 24, to help kick-start the town’s economic revival.

Council leader David Ellesmere said: “We are proposing a budget for growth and for jobs. It is all about Ipswich Borough Council supporting the town and helping Ipswich businesses and Ipswich residents.”

The borough is looking at making savings of almost �1.5 million by improving efficiency and increasing its income – this will include rent from leasing out part of its Grafton House headquarters, and �50,000 a year in rent from Waitrose for its new store in the Corn Exchange.

A key aim of the borough is to set up a fund to support businesses creating private sector jobs in the town – eventually it hopes to have �1.5 million in a jobs and skills investment fund.

Mr Ellesmere said: “Ipswich has been identified as one of the areas that has more than average numbers of public sector workers.

“That sector is being seriously hit at present, so we want to make it easier for the private sector to take on apprentices or train new workers.”

The council also hopes to boost the economy by building more homes.

Changes brought in by the previous government mean that councils are now responsible for the debt of their housing stock – but it means they can negotiate their own interest rates and use any surplus to re-invest.

Mr Ellesmere said: “Because interest rates are at an all time low – and we have negotiated long-term interest rates at a low level – that will give us a surplus of �5 million a year that we can use to build new council homes.”

The budget will be debated at the borough’s full council meeting at the end of the month.

Suffolk County Council has already voted to freeze its element of council tax, the largest in bills, but the police authority is expected to back a small rise in its element.

Do you back the economic boost from the borough? Write to Your Letters, Ipswich Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail starletters@archant.co.uk