Hounslow Council Tax to Rise by 3.99%
'Unprecedented' cuts in funding leading to difficult spending decisions
Hounslow Council have agreed on an increase of 3.99% in Council Tax which will take effect from April this year. This includes an increase of 2% sanctioned by the Government which will go towards the cost of adult social care.
The Council say they have been forced to make this increase, which is their first in a decade, due to "unprecedented" cuts in central government funding requiring them to make difficult decisions on where to focus spending. They say that the rise was necessary due to their desire to focus on frontline services and minimise the direct impact on residents. A range of savings proposals on staffing levels, non-statutory and support services were rubber-stamped by Councillors.
Cllr Theo Dennison, Cabinet Member for Finance and Citizen Engagement, Hounslow Council, said: “We’re all going through very difficult times, having to balance the books in the face of unprecedented cuts to funding. But we will do our utmost to protect the services residents rely on and look for improvements in frontline services where we can.
“It’s extremely challenging, and it does involve having to make some hard decisions about the services we can afford.”
HounslowCouncil Tax Bands
| Band | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 | 2015/16 |
2016/17
|
2017/8 |
| A | 933.65 |
933.65 |
933.65 |
931.58 |
939.46 |
919.18 |
916.52 |
903.85 |
935.25 |
| B | 1089.25 |
1089.25 |
1089.25 |
1086.84 |
1095.70 |
1072.38 |
1069.26 |
1054.49 |
1,091.12 |
| C | 1244.87 |
1244.87 |
1244.87 |
1242.11 |
1251.94 |
1225.58 |
1222.02 |
1205.13 |
1,247.00 |
| D | 1400.47 |
1400.47 |
1400.47 |
1397.37 |
1408.18 |
1378.77 |
1374.77 |
1355.77 |
1,402.87 |
| E | 1711.69 |
1711.69 |
1711.69 |
1707.90 |
1721.66 |
1685.16 |
1680.28 |
1657.05 |
1,714.62 |
| F | 2022.90 |
2022.90 |
2022.90 |
2018.42 |
2034.14 |
1991.56 |
1985.78 |
1958.34 |
2,026.36 |
| G | 2334.12 |
2334.12 |
2334.12 |
2328.95 |
2347.63 |
2297.95 |
2291.29 |
2259.62 |
2,338.12 |
| H | 2800.94 |
2800.94 |
2800.94 |
2794.74 |
2817.36 |
2757.54 |
2749.54 |
2711.54 |
2,805.74 |
Savings of £7.2 million were approved by Borough Council in October, with further proposals discussed by the Overview & Scrutiny Committee in December. The majority of these are around staffing restructures, encouraging greater use of online council services, and reducing contract and insurance costs.
Proposals agreed include adopting the government’s social care precept of 2 per cent to help protect adult social care services from further cuts.
Band D property households currently pay £1079.77 annually. Combined with the 1.99 per cent Council Tax increase, this will mean a total Council Tax rise of 3.99 per cent in 2017/18. This means an additional annual cost of £43.08 for a household living in a Band D property excluding the extra payable through the GLA precept which is levied by the Mayor of London.
Source: Hounslow Council
Cllr Steve Curran, Leader of Hounslow Council, said: “Our ability to provide excellent local services is under more pressure than ever.
“Money received from central Government has fallen by £22.8 million in the last two years, but there is increasing demand for council services, particularly for children and older people.
“We face some hard decisions in order to reduce our spending by £45.8m over the next two years, and services for local people have already been affected. More changes will be necessary, but we are determined to minimise the impact on local services and local residents as much as possible.”
March 2, 2017
