The leader of Hammersmith & Fulham says his council has shown how local government can provide more for less
Here at Hammersmith & Fulham, we are proving that it is possible to cut council tax year-on-year and provide top-of-the-range services.
These are not the hollow words of a politician but the thoughts of our residents, who are now more satisfied with the council than ever before according to independent polls.
So how have we cut council tax by 3% for the past four years? The answer is through our relentless pursuit of value for money for our residents and providing the things that matter most.
In the past three years, the council has saved more than £42m by cutting out waste and bureaucracy. By selling assets we no longer need and minimising new borrowing, we have reduced our debt burden by £24m, saving the council more than £2.9m a year in debt payments.
By introducing competition for £90m of council services, we have saved £5m a year. While saving money, we are improving the quality of services. For example, since the street cleaning contract was awarded, 93% of our streets are cleaner than the national standards, up from 86%.
Reducing the number of staff employed at the town hall and cutting the costs of our office space have also produced major savings, with more to come.
We are also looking at more efficient ways of working, such as enabling more people to receive services via the internet, and buying our supplies more cost-effectively.
Overall, the number of staff employed by the council has fallen by more than 1,000. Around 600 of these followed efficiency measures, with the rest coming from market testing and subsequent outsourcing. We have done away with policy adviser posts.
We have also made savings by concentrating staff in fewer buildings, saving money on rents, business rates, heating, lighting and security. We are also expanding home and mobile working, saving £1.1m. By setting up a one-stop-shop for all social care and support services, we have saved £350,000, as well as making it easier for residents to use these services.
We have also set up H&F Direct, which provides a fast service to residents for council tax, housing and education benefits, business rates, housing charges, penalty charge notices and resident parking permits. As a result, the number of staff has been cut from 227 in 2006/07 to 149 in 2009/10 and costs have reduced by 29% or £3.6m so far. This is despite the fact that the workload has risen from 2,000 callers a month needing assessment for benefits to 8,000 callers in the past nine months. Staff have been multiskilled and online processes developed to process council tax payments, parking permits and housing benefit claims. Some 70% of parking permits are now paid online.
In the meantime, we are focusing our resources on the things that are most important. There are now more police officers on the beat in our town centres thanks to a £4m cash injection and our streets are cleaner than ever before.
We have spent millions of pounds on our parks. Since market-testing our grounds maintenance services, three of our parks have been awarded Green Flags and judged to be among the best in Britain.
We have also opened the first new library in the borough in 40 years. The Shepherds Bush library, worth more than £2m, was built at no cost to the taxpayer, thanks to securing major funding from the new Westfield shopping centre.
And we are spending more than £175m on secondary schools through the Building Schools for the Future programme.
Residents now see the council as focused on value for money and providing the things that matter. We are proud of what we have achieved here but there is still much more to do.
Stephen Greenhalgh is the leader of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham
