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'It's time to lower the council tax burden' (Thursday 06/12/07)

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THIS week we are announcing our intention to cut council tax by 3% again next year – the second time in a row.

Quite simply we believe people cannot afford to pay any more. Despite the cut in interest rates, household budgets are under huge pressure. At Hammersmith & Fulham we do not want to add to that.

As a council we are leading the way in showing that you CAN deliver quality services to residents AND reduce the tax burden.

That’s why the Audit Commission has given us its highest four-star rating for the delivery of our services. Only this week our Adult Social Care has been given the top award of three stars by inspectors.

That’s why resident satisfaction across the borough is UP for the second year in a row.

We have managed to make substantial savings by cutting red tape and inefficiency. Overall £90 million of services are being market tested and I expect that to yield £5 million in efficiency savings for our taxpayers without impacting on frontline services.

Only this week we have made the decision to award our grounds maintenance contract to Quadron, saving taxpayers £200,000, while improving the service we deliver to residents.

Meanwhile we have saved £4 million by reducing agency costs. Smarter working has paved the way for saving £468,000 in office costs. We have cut spending on communications by £600,000 by bringing our council newspaper in-house and by contracting out print services.

And one of our first decisions was to axe cabinet policy advisors, saving £300,000.

Yes, this is an authority that has waged war on red tape and bureaucracy for the benefit of our residents.

Yet, we are spending more money where it matters – £1.5million is being ploughed into 24/7 neighbourhood policing. And we are investing £1.5million into our parks.

We are determined to make our borough a cleaner, greener, safer borough for all our residents.

We are investing in schools of choice with 21st century educational facilities, we want to regenerate and renew areas by unlocking high land values and we are determined to increase the number of affordable homes across the borough.

Our vision and our mandate is to make H&F a borough of opportunity – and a borough where residents can expect quality, value for money services from their top-rated authority.

Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh

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