H&F COUNCIL report 2015/16
• New Hospitals & Healthcare Unit to defend our NHS • Since June 2014, £50 million extra funds won by renegotiating property deals • Largest ever number of council-funded police • Hundreds of new affordable homes for residents • Council tax cut, charges for home care abolished
What we’ve done or are doing in 2015/16
Sixth year of austerity cuts in central government funding to our borough Hammersmith & Fulham Council is facing a sixth year of austerity budget cuts by central government. Most of our income comes from a government grant, not council tax. BUT in the year ahead, that will be cut again by 4.7% This is actually a 10% cut when you include ring-fenced services and new things the government is requiring us to do.
Government Funding for H&F £m 150 120 90 60 30
2009/ 2010/ 2011/ 2012/ 2013/ 2014 2015 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 * Figures adjusted on a like-for-like basis
This year the Government has cut H&F’s budget in real terms by over 10% Pictured on front cover, Charing Cross Hospital
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Making && making savings, Savings,modernising modernisingservices services cutting Cuttingwastefulness waste renegotiating existing agreements with property developers to secure an extra £50 million so far – which can be used for local facilities and services once the developments are built scrapping glossy council magazines and cutting the PR budget cutting the number of senior managers cutting the costs of council office space More than £50 million extra funds negotiated from developers in the last nine months At the first annual general meeting on 16 June 2014, the councillors that form the new administration immediately CUT their special responsibility allowances (their pay) by 10% to set the right tone for their root-and-branch efficiency and modernisation programme. They have since undertaken two cost-cutting budget reviews and have reduced spending by £24 million. New cost-saving measures include:
Improving services and cutting costs to residents Our modernisation and efficiency programme means we have been able to: fund the largest-ever contribution to council-funded police officers putting 44 extra full-time police officers on the beat abolish the £12 hourly charge for vital home care for disabled and older people
negotiating better deals with suppliers and reviewing all existing council contracts paying down and restructuring the council’s historic debt introducing zero-based service reviews to cut duplicate working, modernise services and improve resident satisfaction making new savings by following the advice of the Critical Friends Board review about how to share services better and cut back office costs by closer working with other councils and organisations.
cut 16 council charges including mealson-wheels (down 33%) and bulky waste collections (down 10%) freeze 139 other council charges including parking and school meals CUT COUNCIL TAX this year – THE ONLY COUNCIL IN LONDON to do so 90% of council charges, as measured by the income they raise, will be cut in real terms.
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What we’ve done or are doing in 2015/16
The council is responsible for many services. Here’s a summary of what we’re doing. Renegotiating inherited property deals We have renegotiated property deals and so far secured more than £50 million extra for residents. This means: 231 extra affordable homes so far £2m investment in extra policing £1m extra investment in the arts.
Protest against proposed A&E closure
Homes for residents, not overseas investors
Defending Charing Cross Hospital and our local NHS The council’s new Hospitals & Healthcare Unit is now fighting to save Charing Cross We’ve set up a new, independent Healthcare Commission with Brent, Ealing and Hounslow councils. It is chaired by Michael Mansfield QC, who is leading a public enquiry to review the hospital and A&E unit closures.
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H&F’s message to property developers
Supporting homes for residents, not overseas visitors We’ve halted council homes sales to property developers We have set up a Residents’ Housing Commission to help residents protect council homes against unwanted demolition and redevelopment, and keep rents and charges low We’re providing an extra 231 new affordable homes and are in talks to deliver many more We have reduced the proposed rise in average council rent and service charges from 4.58% to 2.89% for council tenants We have frozen council management fees on service charges for council leaseholders Rise in parking charges scrapped
Cutting council tax charges and cutting council tax
We’re fixing the failing housing benefits service.
We’ve abolished the £12 per hour charge for essential home care for older and disabled residents We halted the planned 14.7% rise in parking charges. We will continue to freeze them along with school meals and 137 other council charges for the next financial year We have cut 16 council charges including meals on wheels by 33% and residents’ charges for bulky waste collections by 10% Hammersmith & Fulham is the only borough in London to CUT council tax this year. Your bill will fall by 1%.
Residents’ Housing Commission aims to protect council homes
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What we’ve done or are doing in 2015/16
Greening the borough and improving our environment We’re reviewing the previous £465,000 cut to the street cleaning and environment budget We are working with the GLA on plans to demolish the Hammersmith Flyover and replace it with a new ‘Flyunder’. That will deliver more affordable housing and many other environmental benefits such as a transformed town centre and better cycling and walking routes We will bring in new measures to tackle dumped rubbish, dog fouling and littering We have restarted measuring air quality and will be working to improve it We will be increasing recycling rates We’re making our residential streets safer with plans for 20mph safe zones We’re working to make cycling safer with new lanes and new facilities We’re fighting to save Hammersmith Park We’re strengthening the council’s response on Heathrow with a new resident-led taskforce We’re cracking down on environmental crime. Cleaner streets in the borough
Family support
Putting children and families first We’ve protected funding for all our children’s centres We saved Sulivan Primary School, which Anisah Chelgi from is now listed as one of the Sulivan Primary best primary schools in the School country We won extra pupil places for highdemand local schools We supported the West London Free School to ensure it can move into new premises in Hammersmith We successfully lobbied the government to back the opening of The Fulham Boys School We’ve defended severely disabled children put at risk by failures in special educational needs transport A new taskforce is working on how to arrange cost-effective, high-quality childcare for residents.
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Social inclusion We’re building social inclusion into all we do, with a new cross-cutting post We’ve increased voluntary sector funding by 25%, with a new emphasis on homelessness and social inclusion We’re supporting local food banks and taking new action to tackle food poverty We’re sticking up for our troops with a new H&F Armed Forces Representative and we gave council premises for the Royal British Legion’s poppy appeal We’ve introduced housing benefit advisors in Citizens Advice Bureaux.
Backing business and a strong local economy
Christmas day lunch at the town hall
Tackling crime and anti-social behaviour, boosting police on the beat H&F is funding 44 police officers, giving the borough the largest number of councilfunded police ever We’re looking at new ways of working with the police to increase their effectiveness and crack down on crime across the borough.
Investing in We’re cutting local businesses energy bills for residents and businesses by promoting the ‘Big London Energy Switch’
We’ve kicked off high street revival with a North End Road Festive Market We’re giving local small firms new support to bid for council contracts We’re reviewing all council policies to ensure we encourage business, enterprise and local jobs and training for borough residents We’re setting up a business board to make the case for business investment in Hammersmith & Fulham.
More police officers than ever on the beat
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What we’ve done or are doing in 2015/16
Hundreds of local people are taking part in our new policy and accountability committees (PACs)
January 2015 PAC: residents, businesses, councillors and officials working together to develop better policies for encouraging independent entrepreneurs and bringing empty shops back into use
Renewing local democracy and working with local people to get things done We are now making policy in public, with the help of residents and local businesses, in new policy and accountability committee (PACs) meetings. These are often attended by hundreds of people and ensure we do things with residents rather than to them We’re establishing resident and local business taskforces. So far the different taskforces have helped or are helping the council to develop policies on Heathrow, childcare, North End Road, empty shops and procurement We’ve reinforced the council’s sovereignty when making efficiencies with shared services and savings following a groundbreaking ‘tri-borough’ review We’ve put local residents in charge of the Wormholt Park development. 8
Reforming planning and giving residents new powers We’ve introduced new rights for residents to speak at planning meetings We’ve instituted a new openness in the council’s dealings with firms wanting to build in our borough, with details of all meetings between councillors and developers now published on the council’s website We put an end to the practice of councillors taking hospitality from developers and banned it for all administration councillors.
Tell us what you think ShareYourViews@lbhf.gov.uk
Home care charges scrapped
Disability organisations are ‘over the moon’ about the council’s decision to scrap charges for home care People in H&F who need help to carry out everyday tasks, such as having a bath, cleaning or doing the shopping, now no longer have to cover the £12 per hour home care charge themselves, a cost which for some can be as much as £281 a week. Local disabilities campaigner, Kevin Caulfield, said the abolition of home care charges will not only ease the financial strain on people who already pay for the service, but it will encourage others
to come forward who need care but were too worried about the cost. He said: “We’re over the moon about the decision. It addresses a long-term unfairness in relation to charging disabled people for essential services. “It’s going to lead to people living in H&F asking for support when they need it. For example, an elderly man and his wife who have dementia, they both need support, not invoices. “I think what H&F Council has done is to have set down the gauntlet in terms of local authorities really, really looking into their budgets.”
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What we’ve done or are doing in 2015/16
Working to help local businesses survive & thrive Hammersmith & Fulham Council is working hard to give a boost to independent businesses and is introducing a raft of measures to support them. The new support comes on top of a wide range of help run by the H&F Business Desk.
continental cakes. It is just the kind of thriving business being encouraged by H&F Council to set-up and grow in the borough.
Independent businesses are not just the lifeblood of our local economy, they help create the unique character of our borough.
Key events such as the H&F Means Business Expo and the Brilliant Business Awards will shine a spotlight on the work of the borough’s traders. And traffic-free markets will be organised – building on the Festive Market in North End Road last December which attracted more than 10,000 visitors.
We are proud of the businesses we have in H&F and we work hard to support them and help them grow. The new measures are geared towards making the council more business friendly in its day-to-day work as well as providing more specialised support. They include creating many more opportunities for local businesses to benefit from the council’s spending, as well as working to attract investment into the borough and to ensure enterprisefriendly policies. A major survey is to be held soon to seek businesses’ views and the council plans to work closer with local business networks to help shape the support the council can give. One example of a popular recent start up is Patisserie Sainte-Anne in King Street which opened in August. The bakery is run by Alain and Keiko Marache and their family who sell freshly-made bread with their own recipe and have a wide selection of
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The new support will come on top of existing work to help firms.
The H&F Business Desk will still be providing help with recruiting apprentices and regular staff and offering a wide range of courses, a monthly enterprise club and a step-bystep guide for businesses who want to sell to the council. The H&F Business Desk is a central point of contact for your business support needs. Call 020 8753 5585 or email business-support@lbhf.gov.uk or visit www.lbhf.gov.uk/business.
Council funds more police than ever
There are now more council-funded police officers on our streets than ever before.
to policing in recent years. Across London, police numbers have fallen by 2,000 since 2010.
The number of locally-funded bobbies has jumped by a fifth. H&F now funds 44 officers – up from 36 last financial year. It is the biggest increase in officers the council has ever funded.
The 44 council-funded police officers allow the police to work better across the whole borough, to prevent and deal with crime and anti-social behaviour.
The new officers have been paid for by extra money councillors won when they renegotiated deals on previously-agreed property developments.
They will help fill the gap left by the government’s police cuts and they will play a vital role in tackling crime and working with us to reduce the causes of crime.
The administration took action to put extra police on the street in response to the Government cutting its contribution
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What we’ve done or are doing in 2015/16
Help keep our borough clean Bin it Please leave your waste out at street level on your property (where available) between 9pm the night before collection and 6am on collection day. Waste should be presented in full-sized black refuse sacks and recycling in the council-provided smart sacks.
Report it Report any street or environmental problem via our ‘Report it’ facility on the H&F website or download the H&F ‘Report it’ app on your smartphone.
Book it Extra waste, furniture or household items? Call 020 8753 1100 to arrange a collection. Remember – dumping waste is a criminal offence and you may be fined up to £50,000.
For all enquiries relating to recycling, waste or street cleaning, please call us on 020 8753 1100 or email Cleaner.Greener@lbhf.gov.uk For more information please visit www.lbhf.gov.uk.
Useful contacts Business rates
Streets, refuse & recycling
• 020 8753 6681 • Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm • businessrates@lbhf.gov.uk
• 020 8753 1100 • Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm • cleaner.greener@lbhf.gov.uk
Parking
Council tax and benefits
Parking permits • 020 8753 6681 • Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm • parkingpermits@lbhf.gov.uk Parking control • 020 7371 5678 • Monday to Saturday 8am to 6pm • parking@lbhf.gov.uk
Housing benefit and council tax support • 020 8753 6681 • Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm
Environment & planning
Switchboard
• 020 8753 1081 • Monday to Fri 9am to 5pm
Electoral services • 020 8753 4466 • Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm • electoral.services@lbhf.gov.uk • 020 8748 3020 • Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm
If you would like any part of this document produced in large print or Braille, please telephone 020 8753 2383.