Budget cuts of £13.8 million and a rise in council tax have been signed off by Hackney Council. The decision was announced at the annual town hall meeting on 1 March. The changes come after what was described as “significant cost pressure”.
The largest cut was to the budget for children, adults and community health education, which will see a reduction of £3.96 million. The budget for sexual health services, currently at £9 million, is likely to be reduced to around £6 million.
It was announced that council tax would rise by 3 per cent. This means a rise in yearly bills from £1294.42 to £1329 for Band D council taxpayers (those living in properties worth between £68,001 and £88,000 based on how much the property was worth on 1 April 1991).
Council tax has been frozen since 2006. In his first budget as mayor, though, Philip Glanville wrote that the council “reached the point last year where we could not continue to do this”.
The increase is estimated to see payments rise by 60p a week in order to raise £2 million. This will be used to help fund council services.
Two-thirds of that increase will help cover the rising costs of supporting the borough’s adult social care services. This was done due to the absence of additional funding from the Government to meet rising costs. The remaining third will be used to combat cost pressures on other service areas such as homelessness and youth work.
In the Budget and Tax Report for 2017-2018, the Mayor said that it was “not possible for Hackney to escape the impact of this Government’s ongoing and significant funding cuts”.
As well as a rise in council tax, the budget revealed cuts of £13.8 million. This follows a reduction of £139 million in the government’s annual grants to Hackney – a cut of 45 per cent – in the period 2010/11 to 2020/21.
Savings
Savings will also be made through “reviews and transformations” of services. These will include an estimated saving of £1.1 million through changes in housing support for vulnerable adults.
In the same report, group director of finances and resources Ian Williams wrote that “planning for the 2017/18 budget has been set against the continuing backdrop of on-going reductions in funding from Central Government in the next three years and continuing uncertainty over all but one of the main funding streams”.
Williams also described the “significant cost pressures” affecting services such as social care, temporary accommodation and children cared for by the council.
Philip Glanville also cited the nationwide 2017 business rates evaluation as putting pressure on the council as well as local businesses. Business rates in Hackney are set to increase by 46 per cent. This is a faster rate of increase than anywhere in London and five times faster than the average for England.
Despite significant cuts, the report emphasised the council’s commitment to “build 3000 new homes in the borough between 2016 and 2019, provide enough school places to match demand, and the regeneration of town centres.”
