Council Tax To Rise Next Year In Hounslow Borough

First increase in a decade as Council seeks to balance its budget

Hounslow Council Tax is set to increase by nearly 4% across the borough - this will add £43.08 to the current annual payment of £1,374 on a Band D property.

Had the Council held the rate it would have been the tenth year in a row without an increase in council tax.

The Council had already agreed last 18 October to increase council tax by 1.99%. But it is also making use of a government precept which has given local authorities the leeway to increase rates by up to 2% to cover the cost of providing adult social care.

This allows the council to add on an extra 2 % increase, and raise £1.7m, without holding a referendum, which is otherwise required for council tax increases of more than 1.99%.

The Council said it had to face some tough decisions either to increase income or reduce its spending by £45.8m over the next two years to balance the books and set a legal budget.

It has made wide ranging cutbacks, including reducing staffing in enforcement areas, dropping the 'out of hours' noise control service and there are cutbacks in Pest Control. There is a £1 million cutback spread over two years in spending on Hounslow Highways. The council has also renegotiated its contracts for the management of parks and leisure services, adopted greater use of online services, and increased parking permit charges.

The council tax increase is contained in the Budget Savings Report published yesterday [Monday 28 November] for consideration by the Overview & Scrutiny Committee on Monday 5 December.

The report outlines £13.5m of savings that will be considered by Cabinet in February 2017 for recommendation to Council for approval with most effects being seen by April 2017.

The Council said it had to face some tough decisions either to increase income or reduce its spending by £45.8m over the next two years to balance the books and set a legal budget.

It has also renegotiated its contracts for the management of parks and leisure services, adopted greater use of online services, and increased parking permit charges.

Parking permits went online

A Council statement said; "The cuts and savings in this package come from staffing restructures in some council services, encouraging the use of online council services, and reducing contract and insurance costs. The package also proposes that Hounslow adopts the government’s social care precept of 2 per cent to help protect adult social care services from further cuts."

Councillor Theo Dennison, Cabinet Member for Finance and Citizen Engagement, Hounslow Council, said: “The Council’s ability to provide local services is under more pressure than ever because the money we receive from central Government has fallen significantly every year since 2010.

“At the same time, inflation and increases in the number of people in the borough, and especially of children and older residents, has meant increased costs and demand for council services. We face some tough decisions as the Council has to increase income or reduce its spending by £45.8m over the next two years to balance the books and set a legal budget.

“Having published these proposals, the next step is to present them to the Overview & Scrutiny Committee for examination and discuss them with key partners and service users before final decisions are taken next February.”

To view the proposals, visit Budget Savings Report

Hounslow needed to slash its budget for 2016/17 by £23.7m, due to a reduction in its central government grant - about half those cuts were made in its first tranche of savings which were approved in 2015.

November 29, 2016