Freedom with responsibility
Friday May 28, 2010
'Freedom with responsibility' is the focus of what I want to achieve for our residents in the next four years.
I want you to know what you can expect from H&F Council – but also what we expect from you because we cannot do everything on our own.
'Freedom with responsibility' for the council means working hard to give our residents an opportunity to own their own home.
It means that we will give you the freedom to get on with life. And it means that the council will do everything we can over time to become debt-free.
Only when we have paid off council debt will we be free to put every single penny into delivering frontline services.
At the moment our residents are paying £5million every year just for us to stand still. That is without a single bin collected, or a single street being swept.
The council’s historic debt – which dates back more than a generation – stands at £133m.
Think of it as the borough’s credit card. You are paying, through your council tax, £5m every year in interest payments... even before we pay off the debt.
Just think what we could do with that money instead. We could put more money into our schools, parks and into supporting our vulnerable.
And yes, we could return some of the money to you by continuing to lower council tax bills as we have done for the last four years.
In H&F, we are proud of the services we deliver while reducing council tax.
Our services are judged to be amongst the best in Britain. In fact, we were recently recognised as the best local authority in Britain.
However, with our debt burden, we are achieving this with one hand tied behind our back.
Our neighbours in Wandsworth, Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea are all virtually debt-free.
That is why our focus in the next four years is on reducing that debt – but it will not be at the expense of quality frontline services. Quality schools, supporting our vulnerable, safer streets, cleaner streets and decent parks continue to be our absolute priorities.
So, how can we reduce debt while still having quality services? Well, we have already managed to reduce our debt by £36m in the last four years. On top of that we have to pay the costs of borrowing.
Our focus will be on using the buildings we own in the most efficient way possible.
If a building is underused and can be sold to reduce our credit card bill it will be sold.
The days of having a council building on every street are over – our residents want quality services, not bricks and mortar which are often underused.
That is why we will be working with the voluntary sector to look at creating modern community hubs across the borough rather than today’s myriad of often underused and poorly- equipped buildings.
That is our promise to local residents – we will carry on delivering quality, value for money services while doing everything possible to continue reducing our historic debt.
We will carry on securing more affordable housing in the borough, assisting low and middle-income earning families get on the property ladder.
We will carry on trying to improve the quality of council housing so people continue to have a choice.
By improving our schools, improving our neighbourhoods and by attracting more jobs and investment to the borough, we will continue to give our residents the freedom to succeed.
So, what do we expect from you? You have a responsibility to help us by taking pride in your neighbourhood.
Help us reduce our landfill costs by recycling more. Look out for your neighbours... and if you can, join one of the 100+ Neighbourhood Watches operating in the borough. They can and do help reduce crime.
Now, I want to hear your views, your issues and concerns. It is only by listening and learning can we continue to make our borough better.
What do you think? Email: handfnews@lbhf.gov.uk.
Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh
H&F Council Leader
'Solemn pledge' to drive down debt mountain news release»
