Kingston Council approves council tax hike in new budget

Council Leader Liz Green said the decision to raise council tax by 1.99 per cent before the extra 2 per cent for social care was "not an easy" decision after councillors approved the budget proposals.

The move was a necessary one given the squeeze in council funding from central government, she insisted.

"Raising council tax is not an easy decision, but a prolonged significant underfunding in council services from central Government means we must still make some very tough decisions in order to secure the financial future of our borough," Cllr Green said.

"Sadly, we did not have any choice but to ask residents to pay a little more money for the services we deliver - it works out at about £1.19 extra per week on average," she added.

Adult social care will receive a funding boost with 2 per cent of the 3.99 per cent increase in council tax going to fund it directly

Opposition councillors branded Kingston’s latest budget “steady as she goes,” criticising the Liberal Democrat administration for a lack of new spending programmes.

Leader of the Conservative group, councillor Kevin Davis, said he felt a “sense of déjà vu” at last night’s meeting, arguing that the council has been complaining since 1998 about cuts to the amount of funding the borough receives.

However the Conservative group did not present any amendments or alternative proposals.

At Friday night’s meeting (February 28), finance lead Councillor Alison Holt acknowledged it has been a “challenging time” for local government and Kingston in particular.

The borough is one of 33 local authorities that have had to submit a deficit recovery plan to the Department for Education due to the overspend in the high needs block for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

There is a cumulative deficit of £20 million in the borough’s dedicated school’s grant and an in-year deficit of £6.5 million.

Cllr Green previously spoke out against the government, criticising the lack of money coming from the dedicated schools grant to cover the cost.

In order to balance the budget the administration decided to make a transfer of £1.27 million to its reserves.

RBK also identified savings of £7.185 million, largely achieved through better commissioning of services for better value for money.

However, Cllr Holt argued that the budget wasn’t all about cuts, and the council is looking after the borough’s most vulnerable residents and investing £6.6 million in the year ahead.

She also explained that money was being spent on specialised officers to help protect biodiversity and roll out charging points for electric vehicles, as well as planting more trees.

The budget was approved with 35 votes in favour, one against, and seven abstentions.

Council tax will go up by 3.99 per cent from April, including a 2 per cent precept for adult social care.

The Greater London Authority have also agreed an increase of 3.6 per cent,  resulting in the average Band D property in Kingston paying £1,945.15 over the year.

So where is money being spent?

Kingston is investing £6.598 million in next year’s budget. Some key spending areas are:

• £3.82 million on Children’s and adult’s care and education. This will include investment in an additional Independent Review Officer to help with casework for looked after children and children on child protection plans, as well as a budget for increased expenditure on SEND legal advice due to the increasing complexity of cases.
• £50,000 for a biodiversity officer to provide support for nature conservation and biodiversity activities across the organisation.
• £35,000 to fund community engagement initiatives to improve the way the council engages with its residents
• £40,000 for an electric vehicle officer to achieve faster development and roll-out of the borough’s electric vehicle infrastructure and develop bids for funding.
• £365,000 on street lighting energy costs. The council notes that energy costs increased by 13 per cent between 2018/19 and 2019/20.

Where is money being cut?

Kingston council has identified savings of £7.185 million, some key cuts and income streams are:

£4.1 million budget reduction in adults services. This includes £100,000 of savings in respite care, and £130,000 in day opportunities through “smarter commissioning and more effective contract management to deliver efficiencies.”

£326,000 budget reduction in children’s services, including £30,000 in savings in a review for youth services and £12,000 on the automation of an emotional health service booking system to reduce reliance on system administration and manual maintenance.

£200,000 budget reduction on pavement waste and recycling collection. The council says it will ask residents to present their bins on the pavement for collection.

£8,000 of income identified through a zero tolerance approach to environmental enforcement on littering and flytipping by increasing enforcement of fines and civil penalties

£749,000 budget reductions in communities, including £95,000 in highways, transport and regulatory services and £217,000 of savings in healthy and safe communities