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It's time to call a halt to council tax rises (Thursday 15/11/07)
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Council tax bills are set to rise again. But not in Hammersmith & Fulham.
I believe council tax bills have reached an affordability ceiling. Councils have a duty to their residents to rein in their spending, to eliminate waste and inefficiency, and to cut bills.
Household budgets are being squeezed like never before. Many families are being crippled by high levels of council tax. With high interest rates, high fuel bills and rising food costs, it is time that local authorities responded, and we will.
Last year, we cut council tax in the borough by 3% - the biggest reduction in the UK. This year we are planning to cut tax again. That is what hard working families in our borough expect and deserve.
In Hammersmith & Fulham we have embarked on a major efficiency drive, reducing waste on building costs, debt repayments, over-staffing and providing facilities, (such as the old staff canteen), that few people will miss. We are also privatising some services, such as printing, where private companies can provide a better value service. We will be using competitive tendering to reduce costs across 90 million pounds-worth of services over the coming years. All this has enabled us to cut tax when other councils are increasing theirs.
It is true that the government continually asks councils to do more for less. The local government associations are right to lobby for fairer funding to meet these obligations, especially in those areas, such as providing services for migrant workers, where government estimates of our costs are inaccurate. But councils also have much to do to make sure they spend the budgets efficiently.
At H&F we are focused on delivering quality services. Following last year’s three per cent reduction, our approval rating for ‘value for money’ from local residents rose 16 per cent. We will carry on in this vein, ensuring that every penny of taxpayers’ money is spent wisely and prudently.
Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh
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