On May 4th 2006 a new Conservative administration was elected on the basis of a manifesto which promised to cut taxes. On Wednesday, February 28th 2007 they delivered their first budget to howls of protest from the opposition. Even the Politics Show - the BBC's showcase local politics programme waded in, claiming that the new administration were old style Eighties Tories. In fact, the savings were achieved through fiscal discipline and sensible savings - Council Leader Stephen Greenhalgh explains below:
We campaigned for the last 4 years that we will deliver lower taxes and better services. This is exactly what this budget delivers by investing in the services that matter most to residents.
The Mayor of London conducts an annual survey and the top 3 issues of concern to Londoners are cost of living, cost of housing and crime. I am sure that these are the same concerns for our residents in Hammersmith & Fulham.
Cost of Living
Londoners have seen their council tax bills increase by 86% since 1997 and the average council tax bill is set to rise again by nearly 4% across London.
Cost of Housing
The latest HomeTrack, survey shows that average house price is £391,000 in Hammersmith & Fulham and house prices are rising faster than at any time in the last decade or more – up 19.5% in the last year alone.
Crime
Credit to the previous Labour administration where credit is due. The Safer Neighbourhood Teams have been rolled out based on the Chicago CAPS model and overall crime is coming down slowly in London but nothing like the massive reductions achieved in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago. And there are worrying increases in violent crime. However, if you do not have 24/7 neighbourhood beat policing you will continue to give criminals a free ride.
Tonight H&F Council is planning to cut its share of the Council Tax by 3% - definitely the largest cut in London and probably, the country. H&F residents are set to see their overall council tax bill go down by just over 1% for the first time since 1994 and they will be the only Londoners who will receive lower bills.
Residents are delighted especially pensioners, the less well off and those on fixed incomes.
Mr Kholfa, a BME resident says - “I am very pleased to hear about the Council Tax cut, as I am struggling to pay my Council Tax (more than £1200 a year), and my little family (wife +2 kids) depend only on my wage. Again thanks for this great news”
Helen, Senior Staff Nurse added - “Thanks for backing the Council Tax cut. As a nurse, whose current suggested pay rise this year is going to be 2% below inflation it's a great help”
The response by the Labour Council Opposition has been confused, inconsistent and clearly divided.
A Statement on Home page of Hammersmith & Fulham Labour Website 9th of January
Councillor Stephen Cowan: “This extra £3.6 million is far more than the council had expected….We’d have used this extra money to cut tax more and put more into local policing and we’d have done more to cut waste.”
Councillor Stephen Cowan: “This extra £3.6 million is far more than the council had expected….We’d have used this extra money to cut tax more and put more into local policing and we’d have done more to cut waste.”
Frontline services have not been cut. In fact there has been an increased investment in the services that matter most to residents:
The council is investing in £1.5million over two years to pay for round the clock beat policing in our town centres as well as spending more on schools and providing free personal care for our most vulnerable residents. Only 2 out of 32 London boroughs provide this at no cost and many are being forced to hike their charges this year.
Let us put some myths to rest…this has not been achieved by:
1) A Generous £3.6 Million Government Grant
Hammersmith & Fulham's grant was not generous but below both the London average and the national average. In fact this is the second year of the worst grant settlement in recent years for Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
Let us put some myths to rest…this has not been achieved by:
1) A Generous £3.6 Million Government Grant
Hammersmith & Fulham's grant was not generous but below both the London average and the national average. In fact this is the second year of the worst grant settlement in recent years for Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
2) Raiding the Council's Balances
The current budget proposal proposes the use of £1.5m balances in 2007/08 after not having dipped into balances at all this year. This use of balances is no more than the previous administration's proposed budget that planned to increase council tax by 1.5% this year. Under the previous administration, the 2006/07 budget provided for use of balances of nearly £4m this year and nearly £1m in 2007/08. This year we are unlikely to use balances at all and the current budget proposal provides for a use of balances of £1.5m in 2007/08.
The current budget proposal proposes the use of £1.5m balances in 2007/08 after not having dipped into balances at all this year. This use of balances is no more than the previous administration's proposed budget that planned to increase council tax by 1.5% this year. Under the previous administration, the 2006/07 budget provided for use of balances of nearly £4m this year and nearly £1m in 2007/08. This year we are unlikely to use balances at all and the current budget proposal provides for a use of balances of £1.5m in 2007/08.
This has been achieved by a combination of political determination and teamwork between Councillors and Council Officers.
This can be broken down into three areas: preparation, planning and execution.
Preparation for this budget started before we were elected and so we were able to announce that we were tendering our refuse collection, street cleansing and grounds maintenance services the day after the election.
Planning started in earnest in June at an away-day between Senior Officers and the Cabinet. We continued with a series of budget meetings throughout July and August in which every area of expenditure was challenged.
Execution was the hardest part. Despite a series of local media headlines which railed against "Tory cuts", we have stuck to our guns. By setting up a vacancy management panel we have slowed recruitment and used natural wastage to make £4 million savings in this financial year. We have introduced far stricter financial controls and challenged the dominance of the Trade Unions by modernising many of our HR practices that were undermining the ability of managers to manage. A consistent 'value for money' message has been communicated to all levels of Council staff in a series of road shows with the Council Leader and Chief Executive. Finally we are committed to competition and market testing Council services. Over the next three years £90 million of in-house Council services are to be tendered which is half our total net budget. This should yield up to £10 million of efficiency savings without impacting frontline services.
Let’s take on the Labour lies about Tory cuts
1) Closure of Hurlingham and Chelsea School
The closure of the school does not contribute to reducing the council tax
Schools budgets are separate (ring-fenced) from other Council spending and government funding for an individual pupil moves as a pupil changes school. This Council has the highest number of surplus places in the country (1400) in the secondary sector. Hurlingham and Chelsea School has more than 40% spare capacity and the number of pupils on roll has declined sharply since 2002 from over 1,000 to less than 600 now. Only 25% of pupils achieved 5 or more A*-C GCSEs including English and math in 2006 at the school: the lowest in the borough and the only Hammersmith & Fulham school in London’s league table of schools where 75% or more of pupils failed to achieve this measure. Very few local parents are choosing the school for their children and we are developing alternative secondary places in schools parents want to send their children to instead. The Council has now had its place confirmed on the Building Schools for the Future programme and will use the funding of up to £116 million to refurbish and expand popular schools and build a new mixed school with a sixth form.
2) Sacking of 166 Home Helps
The homecare which was delivered in-house was more than 70 per cent more expensive than the external contracts we already ran. Each unit of homecare provided by the internal service costs more than £20 an hour while it costs £12 through external contractors. It is economic madness to continue providing the service the way we do especially when residents using homecare will still be able to receive high quality services. Residents expect us to review services in this way and make decisions based on cost and quality. When we compared in-house and external satisfaction there was no significant difference between the two. We are lobbying the government, as are many other Councils, to provide proper home help funding.
3) Cancellation of Affordable Rented Homes Programme
We remain committed to affordable housing. None of the affordable housing schemes have been refused or derailed except the Prestolite site in Larden Road, where the Mayor of London, briefly directed the Council to refuse planning permission. There is a huge amount of public support for more affordable housing. But affordable housing is not just social housing for rent. It’s also low cost home ownership, shared equity schemes and tenants being able to buy their own home from the Council or their housing association. This is why it is vital to explode some of the myths around affordable housing in London in particular. We do need more social housing for rent in London and this should be a launch pad rather than a destination for the 1600 people currently in temporary accommodation. But even more, we need low cost home ownership housing and it is this Council's policy to promote the opportunity to own your own home. So I am delighted to announce that this budget includes funding for H&F Home Buy, the Council’s first ever Home Ownership Unit. In just 7 weeks a staggering number - 3200 low to middle income earners and key workers aspiring to own a home in Hammersmith & Fulham residents have applied to the council’s new home ownership register.
4) 50% Increase in Burial Charges
Under the new scheme Hammersmith & Fulham will continue to have one of the lowest fees for burials in London. We plan to maintain our competitive prices in years to come while bringing us more into line with other boroughs and continuing to offer an excellent service. The fee is going up from £660 to £1,000 for a resident meaning we are still lower than close neighbours RBKC (£1,133) and Wandsworth (£1,218) A non resident will pay £3,190 meaning residents still have a substantial discount over non residents.
5) Cuts in Meals on Wheels
The Council continues to offer the majority of its 400 meals on wheels service users a daily delivery service. However, following a thorough review of service users’ needs, it has been found that 40 (i.e. 10%) can benefit from and manage a fortnightly delivery service. This provides these users with greater choice over what to eat on any given day and when to have their meal. They are provided with two weeks worth of meals and if they lack a freezer, oven or microwave of their own, they are loaned the necessary equipment. It is a well tried approach in a number of boroughs. It is our intention that more new referrals to the service will take up this option instead of the daily delivery which will reduce over time.
6) Cuts in street cleaning
There are no cuts in service but savings will be made from efficiencies made through market testing.
Hammersmith & Fulham streets have been independently assessed as 4th cleanest in London by Tidy Britain
7) Slashing library services
We are making libraries more cost-effective. Longer opening hours, more staff and more computers with internet access are all part of a plan to make the borough’s library service more accessible to residents. The borough’s six libraries will open for seven and half more hours every week, with all libraries opening on Wednesdays. We have already introduced single desking at Fulham and Hammersmith libraries so that visitors no longer have to go to several counters to borrow and return items or book time on computers. We now want libraries to open for longer and at times which are more convenient for the majority of users. We will employ a smaller number of qualified librarians who will focus on developing and promoting the overall service. This will enable us to employ more library staff overall to deliver improved opening hours.
8) Cut £217,000 from the Play and Youth service
In fact this has all been achieved by efficiencies:
- better alignment of staff working hours to deliver efficiencies within the current structure- reduction of a site care post that was not required- use of some of the early years grants to fund existing services
9) Cut £1.4 million by tightening criteria for the elderly and sick to get home help and restructure the service. This is the one area that I am unhappy about. Despite investing nearly £500,000 more on social care H&F is having to balance finite resources with an ever increasing demand for services.
The provision of care is governed by the Fair Access to Care framework, which sets out 4 levels of need: 1) Critical 2) Substantial 3) Moderate and 4) Low. Each authority must state which levels of need it will meet. H&F currently meets the top 3 categories compared to around 80% nationally who meet 2. We are amongst the many of the remaining 20% who are being forced to move towards meeting the top two categories of need.
Government funding has not kept pace with the demands of an ageing population increasing by just 14% in real terms since 1997 in contrast to the 90% increase provided to the NHS. As part of a cross party group of concerned councils have written an open letter to the minister concerned.
Let’s look at the absurd allegations of Tory waste – now there’s an oxy-moron:
1) The new logo cost a £1 million and everything in the town hall is being painted blue
Absolute rubbish - the design costs associated with the new logo and the development of guidelines for its application to publications, vehicles, signage and other items, totals just £17,120.
There are no other costs directly attributable to the change of identity as it is only being applied to new material orders, costs which would have been incurred by the authority whether the logo had been redesigned or not. Old stocks of items such as letterheads and publicity leaflets which feature the old identity are still being used by the council to ensure the best value for money is being obtained for residents.
2) Cost of H&F News - We said we would cut spending on council publicity and we have.
H&F News costs the council £25,000 less per month, on average, than the bi-monthly HFM glossy magazine. The projected full year saving is £300,000.
This is a great budget. It delivers lower taxes, less waste and better services.
We are delivering a 3% cut in council tax whilst resident satisfaction with council services has increased by 2% in the most recent MORI survey conducted at the end of last year.
This is a time when the Labour Government is running out of steam and wasting so much money. The Comprehensive Spending Review target is to increase funding by 1.9% on average but 4% has been promised to health and 3.75% to education. So local government is a really tough financial settlement. And despite this the Labour Government want to top slice £1.6 billion on local government improvement schemes. Now that is a complete waste of money.
In 2005 I predicted that Greg Hands would win the General Election battle in Hammersmith & Fulham And he did
In 2006 I predicted that we would win the Council. And we did by a landslide.
Now I predict we will win the next General Election and the new Hammersmith seat should get us there.
After 10 years the Conservative Party stands on the threshold of Government. And in small way this Council budget helps us get a little closer.
This can be broken down into three areas: preparation, planning and execution.
Preparation for this budget started before we were elected and so we were able to announce that we were tendering our refuse collection, street cleansing and grounds maintenance services the day after the election.
Planning started in earnest in June at an away-day between Senior Officers and the Cabinet. We continued with a series of budget meetings throughout July and August in which every area of expenditure was challenged.
Execution was the hardest part. Despite a series of local media headlines which railed against "Tory cuts", we have stuck to our guns. By setting up a vacancy management panel we have slowed recruitment and used natural wastage to make £4 million savings in this financial year. We have introduced far stricter financial controls and challenged the dominance of the Trade Unions by modernising many of our HR practices that were undermining the ability of managers to manage. A consistent 'value for money' message has been communicated to all levels of Council staff in a series of road shows with the Council Leader and Chief Executive. Finally we are committed to competition and market testing Council services. Over the next three years £90 million of in-house Council services are to be tendered which is half our total net budget. This should yield up to £10 million of efficiency savings without impacting frontline services.
Let’s take on the Labour lies about Tory cuts
1) Closure of Hurlingham and Chelsea School
The closure of the school does not contribute to reducing the council tax
Schools budgets are separate (ring-fenced) from other Council spending and government funding for an individual pupil moves as a pupil changes school. This Council has the highest number of surplus places in the country (1400) in the secondary sector. Hurlingham and Chelsea School has more than 40% spare capacity and the number of pupils on roll has declined sharply since 2002 from over 1,000 to less than 600 now. Only 25% of pupils achieved 5 or more A*-C GCSEs including English and math in 2006 at the school: the lowest in the borough and the only Hammersmith & Fulham school in London’s league table of schools where 75% or more of pupils failed to achieve this measure. Very few local parents are choosing the school for their children and we are developing alternative secondary places in schools parents want to send their children to instead. The Council has now had its place confirmed on the Building Schools for the Future programme and will use the funding of up to £116 million to refurbish and expand popular schools and build a new mixed school with a sixth form.
2) Sacking of 166 Home Helps
The homecare which was delivered in-house was more than 70 per cent more expensive than the external contracts we already ran. Each unit of homecare provided by the internal service costs more than £20 an hour while it costs £12 through external contractors. It is economic madness to continue providing the service the way we do especially when residents using homecare will still be able to receive high quality services. Residents expect us to review services in this way and make decisions based on cost and quality. When we compared in-house and external satisfaction there was no significant difference between the two. We are lobbying the government, as are many other Councils, to provide proper home help funding.
3) Cancellation of Affordable Rented Homes Programme
We remain committed to affordable housing. None of the affordable housing schemes have been refused or derailed except the Prestolite site in Larden Road, where the Mayor of London, briefly directed the Council to refuse planning permission. There is a huge amount of public support for more affordable housing. But affordable housing is not just social housing for rent. It’s also low cost home ownership, shared equity schemes and tenants being able to buy their own home from the Council or their housing association. This is why it is vital to explode some of the myths around affordable housing in London in particular. We do need more social housing for rent in London and this should be a launch pad rather than a destination for the 1600 people currently in temporary accommodation. But even more, we need low cost home ownership housing and it is this Council's policy to promote the opportunity to own your own home. So I am delighted to announce that this budget includes funding for H&F Home Buy, the Council’s first ever Home Ownership Unit. In just 7 weeks a staggering number - 3200 low to middle income earners and key workers aspiring to own a home in Hammersmith & Fulham residents have applied to the council’s new home ownership register.
4) 50% Increase in Burial Charges
Under the new scheme Hammersmith & Fulham will continue to have one of the lowest fees for burials in London. We plan to maintain our competitive prices in years to come while bringing us more into line with other boroughs and continuing to offer an excellent service. The fee is going up from £660 to £1,000 for a resident meaning we are still lower than close neighbours RBKC (£1,133) and Wandsworth (£1,218) A non resident will pay £3,190 meaning residents still have a substantial discount over non residents.
5) Cuts in Meals on Wheels
The Council continues to offer the majority of its 400 meals on wheels service users a daily delivery service. However, following a thorough review of service users’ needs, it has been found that 40 (i.e. 10%) can benefit from and manage a fortnightly delivery service. This provides these users with greater choice over what to eat on any given day and when to have their meal. They are provided with two weeks worth of meals and if they lack a freezer, oven or microwave of their own, they are loaned the necessary equipment. It is a well tried approach in a number of boroughs. It is our intention that more new referrals to the service will take up this option instead of the daily delivery which will reduce over time.
6) Cuts in street cleaning
There are no cuts in service but savings will be made from efficiencies made through market testing.
Hammersmith & Fulham streets have been independently assessed as 4th cleanest in London by Tidy Britain
7) Slashing library services
We are making libraries more cost-effective. Longer opening hours, more staff and more computers with internet access are all part of a plan to make the borough’s library service more accessible to residents. The borough’s six libraries will open for seven and half more hours every week, with all libraries opening on Wednesdays. We have already introduced single desking at Fulham and Hammersmith libraries so that visitors no longer have to go to several counters to borrow and return items or book time on computers. We now want libraries to open for longer and at times which are more convenient for the majority of users. We will employ a smaller number of qualified librarians who will focus on developing and promoting the overall service. This will enable us to employ more library staff overall to deliver improved opening hours.
8) Cut £217,000 from the Play and Youth service
In fact this has all been achieved by efficiencies:
- better alignment of staff working hours to deliver efficiencies within the current structure- reduction of a site care post that was not required- use of some of the early years grants to fund existing services
9) Cut £1.4 million by tightening criteria for the elderly and sick to get home help and restructure the service. This is the one area that I am unhappy about. Despite investing nearly £500,000 more on social care H&F is having to balance finite resources with an ever increasing demand for services.
The provision of care is governed by the Fair Access to Care framework, which sets out 4 levels of need: 1) Critical 2) Substantial 3) Moderate and 4) Low. Each authority must state which levels of need it will meet. H&F currently meets the top 3 categories compared to around 80% nationally who meet 2. We are amongst the many of the remaining 20% who are being forced to move towards meeting the top two categories of need.
Government funding has not kept pace with the demands of an ageing population increasing by just 14% in real terms since 1997 in contrast to the 90% increase provided to the NHS. As part of a cross party group of concerned councils have written an open letter to the minister concerned.
Let’s look at the absurd allegations of Tory waste – now there’s an oxy-moron:
1) The new logo cost a £1 million and everything in the town hall is being painted blue
Absolute rubbish - the design costs associated with the new logo and the development of guidelines for its application to publications, vehicles, signage and other items, totals just £17,120.
There are no other costs directly attributable to the change of identity as it is only being applied to new material orders, costs which would have been incurred by the authority whether the logo had been redesigned or not. Old stocks of items such as letterheads and publicity leaflets which feature the old identity are still being used by the council to ensure the best value for money is being obtained for residents.
2) Cost of H&F News - We said we would cut spending on council publicity and we have.
H&F News costs the council £25,000 less per month, on average, than the bi-monthly HFM glossy magazine. The projected full year saving is £300,000.
This is a great budget. It delivers lower taxes, less waste and better services.
We are delivering a 3% cut in council tax whilst resident satisfaction with council services has increased by 2% in the most recent MORI survey conducted at the end of last year.
This is a time when the Labour Government is running out of steam and wasting so much money. The Comprehensive Spending Review target is to increase funding by 1.9% on average but 4% has been promised to health and 3.75% to education. So local government is a really tough financial settlement. And despite this the Labour Government want to top slice £1.6 billion on local government improvement schemes. Now that is a complete waste of money.
In 2005 I predicted that Greg Hands would win the General Election battle in Hammersmith & Fulham And he did
In 2006 I predicted that we would win the Council. And we did by a landslide.
Now I predict we will win the next General Election and the new Hammersmith seat should get us there.
After 10 years the Conservative Party stands on the threshold of Government. And in small way this Council budget helps us get a little closer.
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