Cllr Gerald McGregor
February 2, 2025
Reporting Back: Council Work with a Smile
The cultural scene in Chiswick
2025 has opened with a wonderful Chiswick range of events covering concerts, recitals, theatre, cinema releases, award ceremonies and now an opportunity to get more involved. Looking back over the first month at the end of January there is a lot of artistic enterprise and pleasure to have enjoyed from the local cultural scene.
Hounslow Council has begun a consultation process to find out what residents and interested partners would want from Cultural Services and other support provided by the council. This consultation would lead to a decade long strategy that will help guide the Council’s approach to Culture services.
Chiswick sits at the eastern edge of Hounslow. The Borough is a diverse area in terms of history, landmarks, culture and complex heritages, so engagement with other communities, and bringing people to the area makes Chiswick and Hounslow a better-known destination, and therefore a more likely arena for private investment in homes and houses and corporate investment in businesses.
Cultural Strategy Outcomes?
A cultural strategy from a Borough with phenomenal heritage assets provides a basis for recognition, from Modern Artwork in Bedford Park to Ancient and Medieval sites in Syon Park, and History in Turnham Green to Desperadoes on Hounslow Heath.
This becomes noteworthy and is part of the process of developing the strategy, as Council Officers tasked with this development of Policy want to make sure that they have heard from as wide a group of residents as possible. Feedback is vital to ensure that minority and majority interests can be catered for in the policy.
Example Strategies: Providing Entrance to Hounslow Leisure Facilities
There are a number of people in the Borough who apparently cannot use the general facilities provided by the Council because they do not have bank accounts, hence they do not have bank cards, hence they cannot use the card machines to purchase tickets or pay entrance fees.
We know that Hounslow suffers from internet and IT poverty, but the removal of the cash option means we provide unnecessary barriers to healthy life styles and the use of sport and leisure facilities.
The One Hounslow ticket needs to be re-constituted and made available as a cash holding card with prepaid inputs which can then be downloaded with a card machine.
Council Work with a Purpose: Detailed Analysis and Assistance for Chiswicks’ “Council Created Problems”:
Petitioning for Public Safety
The Conservative Group has debated a range of matters including darkened streets, poor maintenance of lighting, lack of Police Liaison and consequent action to apprehend criminals and the overall cost squeezes which release no value to taxpayers. Cllr Ron Mushiso who was the Conservative candidate London South West last May has acted most responsibly in providing a pathway to avoid these issues being avoided by the council administration. Recently he has started a petition to ask the council to withdraw its plans to dim streetlights again! The petition can be signed here .
The petition, started by Chiswick Conservative Councillor Ron Mushiso, is in response to recently unveiled plans by the council to cut a further £200,000 from the borough’s streetlighting budget. Streetlights in the borough have already seen a 40% reduction in brightness since 2018, and the latest council cabinet papers on the budget suggest that this new round of cuts will see the implementation of “further dimming/scheduling across the network and generate energy savings and reduce cost.”
Opposition councillors have repeatedly raised the issues of perception of safety, and in particular women's safety, with regard to poor streetlighting. Recent Streetsafe data, collected by the Metropolitan police, shows better streetlighting is consistently ranked as one of the top requests from residents in Hounslow when asked about how to make their community feel safer.
Quality of Life
Hounslow Council’s proposals have significantly impacted the quality of life for socially deprived and disabled residents, with cuts to housing and maintenance services leaving many vulnerable individuals at risk. My colleagues have been working on alternative solutions to mitigate these damaging policies. Similarly, the Labour Council’s reckless decision to reduce the pothole maintenance budget—aligning it with the London average—undermines the Private Finance Initiative that modernised the borough’s roads. This short-sighted move not only increases the risk of vehicle damage but also raises concerns about the council’s overall strategic planning.
In addition to failing residents on housing and road maintenance, the council has neglected community comfort and hygiene. The long-standing issue of inadequate public toilet facilities in town centres remains unresolved, affecting residents and visitors alike.
Despite a massive increase in local government employees in Hounslow, there has been no corresponding improvement in efficiency, responsiveness, or service delivery. Residents continue to experience delays, lack of follow-up, and unfinished work.
A warning of future cost rises: Where are we with Hounslow Budget and Finances for 2025/2026, commencing on April 1 st ? Information not released or consulted on; Keeping council tax payers informed.
Upcoming meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the One Hounslow Financial Strategy (OHFS)
The report on the resulting 2025/26 Budget Proposals
This Council report presents the scrutinised draft budget proposals for 2025/26 that will be presented to the next Cabinet on 11 February 2025. As noted at Overview & Scrutiny Committee on 24 October last year, the budget setting process for 2025/26 has been adjusted to provide greater opportunity for the committee itself to have oversight of both the financial assumptions that underpin the Council’s medium-term financial strategy and the proposals being taken forward to balance the 2025/26 budget.
The report sets out the financial context and the key aspects to be considered by Cabinet in setting the Council’s budgets for the 2025/26 financial year. This represents an update to the position that was presented to Overview & Scrutiny in October 2024.
The addendum contains a detailed list, by portfolio, of all budget proposals that are being taken forward to ensure a balanced income and expenditure budget for 2025/26 (this is required by law).
The agenda for Cabinet on 11 February 2025 will include the full budget report, where the Overview and Scrutiny Committee will obtain fuller details of the Statutory 2025/26 budget and the Cabinet’s proposed recommendations for the Borough Council’s consideration on 25 February 2025 (the Budget Setting meeting).
The Council is required to set a balanced budget for the following year. In setting the budget, the Council considers all available resources to ensure that it fulfils its statutory obligations. The budget proposals need the Borough political executive (The Cabinet) to approve them before final ratification at Full Council which then sets the level of Council Tax to charge for the following financial year
The Council says it has historically been well managed financially, giving it a level of reserves to mitigate those pressures in the short-term. However, the Council also recognises that reserves are only one-off in nature and must be replaced with permanent savings that will put it back on a sustainable footing. This will include a plan to replenish risk reserves. This part of the report is wholly nebulous and unattractive as there is no detail and it is likely to be a smokes screen for worse to come.
The Labour Government in Westminster made their first major policy update impacting on the public finances in the Autumn Budget in October 2024. This sought to re-set the public finances for 2024/25 onwards, building on the public spending audit 2024/25 released in July 2024 that identified £21.9 billion of in-year pressures on Government spending, the majority of which would recur in future years.
The financial outlook for the local government sector remains difficult and challenging. All local authorities with social care and housing responsibilities, including Hounslow, are impacted by the legacy impact of covid and the earlier global financial crisis, coping with rising demand for social care because of immigration and the changing demography of the kingdom, thus reflecting the impact on residents’ quality of life and the affordability of housing and energy.
The financial stresses facing local authorities have increased with an increasing number of authorities in crisis. There have been several high-profile financial failures of councils across England, where Section 114 Notices (protective administration) have been issued. Hounslow recognises this and is determined to ensure that it puts financial sustainability at the heart of its decision-making; however, despite these protestations of goodwill, the council is still deficit financing its’ own trading companies.
The scrutiny report is not intended to be a full budget report but instead an update on savings identification. The timing of this report was before the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement (late December) and before any decision is made on Council Tax setting (the maximum level expected being 4.99% for 2025/26, but subsequently the Chancellor indicated that they would allow extenuating circumstances).
Keeping council tax payers informed: Serious Stuff to follow
The scrutiny report and the cabinet meeting are now likely to be overtaken by events outside the control of the council.
A bombing currency (the pound falling!) borrowing made more expensive (interest rates hitting the roof!) and emergency action to control expenditure by HM Treasury (Government cuts!) are all potential scenarios that could hit Hounslow very hard and being told in effect “to grin and bear it”.
It is the twenty-five per cent of Hounslow’s population who suffer from social deprivation who will be the hardest hit in their pockets and well being.
That is one in four inhabitants (approximately 80,000 and growing in total) who still face major difficulties in the coming years. No grinning here.
Council Work with a Purpose: Case Work and Assistance
If you have not contacted a Chiswick councillor before and you have a problem with the council that you think a councillor can solve then please come to the surgery on Saturday morning at Chiswick Library (9.30 am to 10.30 am.)
No appointment needed but if you have a record of your problem or documents in support of your case then please bring them as this would be helpful.
(Please don’t be upset if a councillor would prefer photocopies and won’t accept your originals, you are the best person to safeguard them against loss.)
In order to create a case file a councillor would need references from the paperwork, which can be shared, and names and contact numbers of officers or departments of Hounslow previously contacted or who have corresponded with you.
The Hounslow standard is to allow a maximum of 10 working days to investigate a casework problem and then to respond. The response is generally via the Councillor and/or directly back to you.
In some cases, councillors may be able to assist with advice directly, avoiding a case work reference.
If you have been trying without success to get satisfaction or an answer from your council then apply to your Chiswick Conservative Councillors.
Cllr Gerald McGregor
gerald.mcgregor@hounslow.gov.uk
07866 784821
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 2025
Council Meetings - Borough Council
There is public access for these meetings via a direct lift from the ground floor to the Council Meeting Room
6th Floor, Hounslow House, 7 Bath Road, Hounslow TW3 3EB
Council Meetings – Overview and Scrutiny Committee
6th Floor, Hounslow House, 7 Bath Road, Hounslow TW3 3EB
Council Meetings – Planning
Thursday, 13 February: Planning committee
Important Current Local Issues During weekends, residents can still access council services on-line or via emergency numbers:
To inform the council of an emergency, please call 020 8583 2222
CONSERVATIVE COUNCILLOR SURGERIES
Chiswick: Every Saturday from 9.30am to 10.30am at Chiswick Library (the eight Conservative councillors take this surgery in turn).
Gunnersbury: First Saturday of the month from 10am to 11am at The Gunnersbury Triangle Club, Triangle Way, off The Ridgeway, W3 8LU (at least one of the Chiswick Gunnersbury ward councillors takes this surgery).
CONSERVATIVE COUNCILLORS and CONTACTS
Chiswick Gunnersbury ward
Cllr Joanna Biddolph joanna.biddolph@hounslow.gov.uk 07976 703446
Cllr Ranjit Gill ranjit.gill@hounslow.gov.uk 07976 702956
Cllr Ron Mushiso ron.mushiso@hounslow.gov.uk 07976 702887
Chiswick Homefields ward
Cllr Jack Emsley jack.emsley@hounslow.gov.uk 07977 396017
Cllr Gerald McGregor gerald.mcgregor@hounslow.gov.uk 07866 784821
Cllr John Todd john.todd@hounslow.gov.uk 07866 784651
Chiswick Riverside ward
Cllr Gabriella Giles gabriella.giles@hounslow.gov.uk 07966 270823
Cllr Peter Thompson peter.thompson@hounslow.gov.uk 07977 395810
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |