Bills frozen as 27m budget savings agreed

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Bills frozen as £27m budget savings agreed

Thursday February 24, 2011

Council tax bills and councillor allowances have been frozen as part of a £27million package of budget savings agreed by councillors last night (February 23).

The news comes just weeks after Hammersmith & Fulham Council announced plans to cut senior management costs in half.

Councillors agreed the £27million savings for the next financial year at the same time as freezing council tax bills, following three per cent reductions for each of the previous four years. Overall leaseholder charges are also frozen.

From April, the borough's average council tax bill will be £812 - the fourth lowest in the country. Councillor allowances are frozen for the third year running.

H&F Council Leader Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh promised that the council is 'squeezing every pound and penny' to protect frontline services at a time when councils up and down the UK are having to cut budgets dramatically.

The council has already announced its intention to combine many services with Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster City Council, saving £35m a year across the three councils by 2014-15 - with a 50 per cent reduction in senior management costs.

Last night's £27m savings includes a reduction in management and admin posts and a major renegotiation of council contracts.

Councillors at the budget meeting also agreed:

  • A £700,000 cut in debt repayments by selling buildings which are no longer needed.
  • A £500,000 saving on voluntary sector grants. In 2010/11 H&F has been the fourth highest spender on the voluntary sector per head of population in London.
  • A £310,000 reorganisation of the library service. Extra cash will go to Fulham library while Avonmore school and volunteers are set to take over Baron's Court Library. Sands End library is due to move to Hurlingham & Chelsea school.
  • A consultation is underway on a major reorganisation of family support and children's centres - which is set to save £3.26m a year. Six hubs would provide services that are targeted at the most vulnerable, while some services would still continue to be delivered from nine 'spokes'. The overall network would be increased from 15 to 16, subject to the results of the consultation.
  • A £250,000 cut in the communications budget, with management costs being shared with Wandsworth.
  • Closure of two bowling greens at Hammersmith Park and Bishops Park, saving £22,000.
  • Reduced access to the borough archives, saving £70,000, although the council hopes to work with volunteers to maintain the service.

» Send us your comments now

Thats very good. Help a lot but the resident car permit went up without reason I leave on Clancarty Road when chelsea play at home I can't go out with my car because when I back no space to park. I pay for what? For two times I waited 2 hours inside to get parking space.
From Boteta on 21/04/2011 at 17:57
On the bowling green closures - while these are necessary in these times I would hope that they are mothballed rather than closed as there has to be hope that in the future we might be able to afford to reopen them as it is facilities like these which add variety to the city we live in.
From RW on 03/04/2011 at 22:54
Looking at other borough's budget cuts, H&F have done a magnificent job in making cuts in the right places without cutting back on front line services as well as protecting the taxpayer from unecessary rises in Council Tax. I am a Council Tenant and in full time employment and feel the borough has looked after me and my family well over the past 30 years.
We could do without summer Large TV screens in Lyric Square and I love Hamersmith Posters up and down King St though.
From Rob on 06/03/2011 at 22:50
Some of this is a disgrace. How can you justify some of these cuts. The children's centre consultation is not over, so how can this be decided already. Whilst I think we can use volunteers in some areas we cannot rely heavily on them. Many people volunteer inbetween jobs and whilst training. They will eventually go back to work. The freeze on council tax is just a ploy for vote winning. Many in the borough that pay council tax can afford to pay a norminal increase which would then help keep front line services going. I for one would be willing to pay a little extra. This council needs to get it act together if it is really going to put all residents first and not just the richest.
From T E M on 25/02/2011 at 19:49
It is a great shame that two bowling greens are to be closed especially since they are used by elderly people during the summer months. It hardly seems worth it for the amount that will be saved.
From Jenny D on 25/02/2011 at 10:14
"Aim not for the best possible result, but for the best result possible".
In financially difficult times, the Council kept its wits about it and produced the best budget possible, resourceful and imaginative. Well done!
From George Ross on 25/02/2011 at 07:59

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