Prime Minister leads tributes to Cllr Greenhalgh
Monday December 12, 2011
The Prime Minister is leading tributes to Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh who has announced today that he intends to stand down as leader of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh, who has been leader since 2006, is standing down on the same day that H&F Council reveals it intends to reduce council tax by 3.75% next year. If approved, it would be the fifth council tax cut in six years.
During that period resident satisfaction increased to a record level, H&F was given the highest score possible by the Audit Commission for the quality of services, and the borough won the prestigious LGC 'Council of the Year' award in 2010.
The Council is also on course to cut its historic debt of £176 million in half, saving local taxpayers £9.1million a year in debt repayments.
The Prime Minister, David Cameron, said: "Stephen Greenhalgh has demonstrated that good management and tackling waste can keep council tax bills down whilst protecting services."
London Mayor Boris Johnson said: "Stephen Greenhalgh has been one of the very finest borough leaders London has seen. He has delivered first class services for Hammersmith and Fulham while relentlessly driving down costs. We will miss him."
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, added to the tributes by declaring: “Stephen has been an outstanding council leader. He always understood that the role of the council was to stand shoulder to shoulder with the public. People in Hammersmith & Fulham are getting a better service at a much cheaper price. Hammersmith and Fulham is truly a council to be proud of.”
Cllr Greenhalgh intends to stand down in six months but will continue as a councillor to pioneer plans for a Neighbourhood Budget for the White City Opportunity Area.
Nearly £70 million of taxpayers’ funds – or £17,000 per household – is spent in this area every year. Despite this, unemployment is twice the borough average, the area has high levels of overcrowding, relatively low educational attainment and relatively high levels of crime. H&F wants to pool central and local government spending into a single budget pot, involve residents far more in how that money is spent and ensure that every penny is focused on improving the life chances of the people living there.
He said: “I am keen to work with Whitehall and the town hall to develop a new approach to public spending at a neighbourhood level while continuing to serve the residents of Town ward where I both live and work."
He went on to say: “Being leader of the council is a remarkable challenge which I have been thrilled to have taken on. I am immensely grateful for the energy and professionalism of my fellow councillors and staff in making possible such a radical transformation of the council over the last five years.
“We can be so proud of what we have achieved in becoming such an influential, trail-blazing council. From cutting tax and paying off debt to widening choice in schools and housing, and from fighting crime to creating a cleaner environment, we have led the way. We have been the guiding star by which other councils seek to navigate. I am confident that our course is firmly established for the future."
Recently H&F, Westminster City Council and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea announced plans to combine services and management costs to save £33.4million a year across the three areas by 2014/15.
Another part of that reform is seeing H&F on course to reduce its accommodation footprint by half, which has been a major contributor to the council’s ambition to reduce its historic £176 million debt burden to £78 million by 2014. This will save local taxpayers £9.1million a year in debt payments.
H&F has some of the cleanest streets in London, six of its parks have been given the national accolade of 'Green Flag' status and the council pioneered spending on round-the-clock town centre police. This year saw educational attainment reach its highest ever levels with the best ever GCSE results, three new schools opening and H&F being placed as the top borough for the number of children from state schools going to leading universities.
Cllr Nick Botterill, deputy leader of H&F Council, said: “I hope many people across H&F and beyond will want to thank Stephen for his tireless dedication to this borough and to local government. Thankfully, he will still continue to play a major role through his work with the community in White City.
“It is extremely difficult simultaneously to cut taxes, improve services and reduce the debt burden, and yet that is just what Stephen has done at H&F. He has lifted the spectre of debts from future generations of residents - there can be no higher accolade than that.”
