Hammersmith & Fulham Conservatives: Delivering Value for Money

Since council tax was introduced in 1993 the average bill in H&F increased by 131 per cent under the previous Labour council. This particularly impacted on residents with low to moderate fixed incomes, who struggled to meet these rises.

Conservatives have managed to reduce the tax burden while delivering quality, value for money services. This is reflected in the fact that we are one of only a small number of councils to receive the independent Audit Commission’s top rating for the quality of our services. On top of that, resident satisfaction scores continue to rise year on year.

How have we managed to deliver top quality services AND reduce tax? By waging war on waste and bureaucracy, introducing competition to council services and by cutting the council’s debt. For example:

We have saved £4 million by reducing our reliance on agency staff.
We are market testing £90 million of council services and are expecting to deliver up to £5 million in savings while improving service quality.
We have reduced our historic debt by £17 million, saving council tax payers £1.5 million a year in direct interest payments.

Let me assure you we won’t be resting on our laurels. Our mission is clear: lower taxes, less waste and better council services.

Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh
Conservative Leader
of Hammersmith & Fulham Council

The average saving to H&F residents is almost £350 since the Conservatives won the council election in 2006.

The Conservatives’ two consecutive 3% reductions compare with an average 7.7% increase under Labour since the Council Tax was first introduced. This means Band D bills will fall to £862.77 for the part to pay for Council services. This compares with what would have been £1,064 under Labour, assuming their 7.7% average increases went on.

This saving is equivalent to...

			A return economy flight to Hong Kong
			A 32” LCD television
			A five star mini break in Rome for two

Over their last ten years of power, Labour increased Council Tax in Hammersmith & Fulham by over 70%. This left Hammersmith & Fulham residents with Council Tax bills twice the size of those in neighbouring Wandsworth.

Conservatives are committed to reversing Labour’s legacy of waste and bureaucracy - and are are looking to the market to see if the same, or even better, services can be delivered more efficiently.

H&F Council’s delivery of lower tax bills comes despite the actions of the Labour Government. A major source of the money councils have to spend comes from government grants and Labour are seeking to starve H&F of cash.

This year, H&F received an increase much lower than the national and London average. Last year, the main grant increase of £3.4 million was virtually wiped out by £2.9 million of cuts in ring-fenced grants for areas such as mental health services.

For the coming year, Labour have already announced an even smaller grant increase, complete with a further six figure cut in ringfenced grants. Furthermore they have already said grants for the next three years will have the lowest rises in Britain, all below 2%.


	Whilst H&F Conservative Council is reducing the tax burden on residents, the Labour Mayor of London is once again increasing his share of the bill - by 2.4%. In 2000/01 the average cost of the Mayor to a Band D household was £123 a year. This year is it £289 and from April will be over £300. An increase of over 140%. At the same time as these huge increases in tax from the Labour Mayor, services have got no better. It’s time for a new Mayor who will follow the H&F example and deliver lower tax and better services. It’s time for Boris Johnson

Extra cash for residents’ key priorities

Conservatives in H&F have managed to reduce the tax burden while delivering quality, value for money services.

As well as running all services more efficiently, priority areas that need increased expenditure are getting it. In particular two key areas to receive multi-million pound extra funding are:

£1.5m in parks and £2m into Bishops Park as part of match funding for a heritage lottery bid.
£1.5m of a total £4m spend on 24/7 neighbourhood beat policing pilots to cut crime.