NEWS RELEASE from the Liberal Democrats on Harlow District Council

Harlow Council Budget

By Cllr Lorna Spenceley, Leader, Harlow Council

Harlow's portion of the council tax will rise by less than 14p a week for families in a Band D home, councillors confirmed when they set the council's budget on 23 February.

The rise - less than three and a half per cent - is the second smallest council tax increase in Essex so far this year. In return, Harlow residents will see a number of improvements in services provided by their local council.

Spending on the services that matter

• An extra £80,000 will be invested in community safety, a high priority for local residents.
• A further £25,000 will be spent on CCTV.
• £25,000 has been put into the budget to start the process of improving local playgrounds, following consultation with residents which will take place during the year.
• Another £25,000 has been added for recycling. This will allow the council to start collecting more recyclable materials at the kerbside, in addition to the very successful paper collections introduced last year.
• The council will also spend £8,000 more on information to show local households how we can all 'slim our bin' and reduce the amount of rubbish going into landfill.
• The Playhouse will receive an additional £100,000 to bring its budget back up to the level agreed by councillors earlier this year.
• The council will be spending over £7,000 a year more on extra cleaning to keep the town centre tidy.

Cutting costs

Councillors are continuing to expect efficiency savings from the council too - reducing spending where we can, so that the council can afford to put money into residents' priorities.

A major reorganisation of the Community Partnerships will take place, saving nearly £200,000 a year while preserving the regular ward-based meetings that can help find solutions to local problems.

We reached a compromise on the original proposal to cut the Community Partnership budgets to £5,000 for each ward; instead, we agreed to reduce them by only £2,000 each, to £8,000 per ward. Last year a large proportion of the Community Partnership budgets was left unspent, suggesting that a small saving is not unreasonable.

The council will be carrying out a review of its unit costs this year, to improve efficiency and cut out more waste. This will include a reorganisation of council management, and savings in purchases and council premises. In discussions between political parties, it was agreed to add some specific savings targets for these items this year, and to reduce the level of general, unspecified savings in the budget.

Charges

Harlow Council makes charges for a number of the services it provides. The council now has a charging policy, so that decisions about charges are made consistently, without the wide variations there used to be in who was eligible and who was not, or how much charges would rise.
Most charges will rise by about the rate of inflation this year, with a few exceptions.

There will be no change in the charge for bus passes this year; nor in tenants' home contents insurance.

Charges at the Playhouse will rise above inflation, in line with managers' advice; as will room hire from the council's community services, which has not kept pace with inflation in the past. Cremation and burial fees at Parndon Wood will also rise above inflation, and part of the extra income will be used to employ a member of staff to keep important records up to date.

Another compromise reached in negotiation was in charges for child care. Proposals from the council's corporate charging group to raise these by five per cent more than inflation have now been held back, until the review of child care provision in Harlow takes place as agreed by the council earlier this month.

Compromise and negotiation

Harlow Council is currently politically balanced, with no one party holding a majority of the seats. More than one party must agree a budget before it can be passed - and that means discussion, negotiation and compromise.

The original budget was altered to take into account views expressed by other parties, and was thoroughly and openly debated by councillors.
As a result, Harlow residents can look forward to more efficient use of their money, and improvements in services that local people value.

ENDS