How the council tax cut 2008 was achieved

by Hammersmith and Fulham Press Office
14/02/2008

Debt reduction, competition, and cutting waste are expected to deliver more than £10million in savings.

LOWERING DEBT
By selling assets we no longer need, we have reduced our debt burden by a staggering £17 million, saving council taxpayers more than £1.5 million a year in reduced payments. Before we spend a penny on services, we currently have to spend £10 million of taxpayers’ money just servicing our historic debt. For every million we can trim off that bill, we are saving taxpayers £100,000 a year, forever. Reducing the debt bill means there is more to spend on services. 

COMPETITION
By introducing competition to £90 million of council services, we are expecting to save up to £5 million. We have begun the process with new contracts for grounds maintenance, print services, refuse collection and street cleaning. While we are not wedded to the idea that the private sector will always provide the best option, the competitive process itself is already producing substantial savings.

CUTTING WASTE
Reducing the number of staff employed at the town hall and cutting the costs of our office space have produced major savings, with more to come. We are looking at more efficient ways of working, such as enabling more people to get services, such as parking permits, via the internet, and buying our supplies more cost-effectively.
“The fact remains that too many families are being crippled by high bills. With high interest rates and the cost of living rising, we simply do not believe people can afford to pay any more.”
Council Leader Stephen Greenhalgh.

THE DETAILS
Fewer staff
Overall, the number of staff employed by the council has fallen by 200 posts. We have cut policy advisor posts. Staff are working harder and their productivity is up. Better ways of working mean we need fewer people to provide the same, or better, standards of service. For example, we have brought together all our human resources staff into one central team, and reduced the number of staff.

Cutting printing and publicity costs
We have saved £300,000 on the cost of producing our newspaper for residents, h&f News. This has been done by raising more money from commercial advertising and by using cheaper paper. By out-sourcing our printing and getting printing firms to quote more competitively, we are saving 20% on the costs of our leaflets and brochures, saving another £300,000.

Reducing office costs
Council staff work from a large number of different offices all across the borough. We have made savings by concentrating staff in fewer buildings, saving money on rents, heating, lighting and security. For example, staff who work with schools have been moved into the schools they support, freeing up space in council offices. An extra £328,000 saving is planned from expanding home and mobile working, to reduce office costs even further.

Cutting energy costs
Automatic switches now cut the lights whenever our offices are empty. We are installing solar panels on the town hall roof and we are buying our energy more cheaply.

Closing under-used services
Some services were expensive to run but benefited very few people and we have closed or reduced these. They include Sands End public laundry, where alternative commercial services are available at a better price and the staff canteen which was used by very few staff.

Community support centre
By setting up a one-stop-shop for all social care and support services, we are planning to save £350,000, as well as making it easier for residents to use these services. They will have a single point of contact, rather than having to make separate applications to a series of individual services.

Using IT to do things more efficiently
When people report problems, make payments or apply for services via the internet or over the phone, rather than by coming into council offices in person, it costs the council less. Many people prefer to do business with us on-line or by phone, so expanding the range of services available in this way is popular with residents. This, together with huge improvements in how we handle public enquiries and service requests, has netted a saving of £539,000 over the last two years, with more to come.

AND WE'RE INVESTING MORE TOO
As well as cutting council tax, we are investing in services that are important to residents.

24/7 POLICING
The council and local businesses are putting an extra £4million over the next two years to put bobbies on the beat round the clock in Fulham and Shepherds Bush. In Shepherds Bush robberies have tumbled by an impressive 46 per cent and anti-social behaviour is down by 75 per cent. In Fulham burglaries from homes have been more than halved and car thefts are down 48 per cent.

PARKS
Our multi-million pound parks investment programme includes major revamps for Normand Park on Lillie Road, Shepherds Bush Green, South Park and Bishop’s Park.

SCHOOLS
MORE than £100 million is due to be injected into secondary schools as part of the Council’s vision to make H&F a borough of opportunity.