Hammersmith & Fulham: The Council who could 4

Mark Wallace Campaign

An unusual event, today – good news from local government about council tax. The London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham have announced that for the third year running they will be cutting council tax by 3%. Congratulations from the TPA!

Let's take a second to think about the true magnitude of this. We have reached such a dire situation with the majority of local councils that if you got a council tax bill through the door saying next year's tax would go down you would assume there had been a misprint or a banding error. What H&F have achieved through careful budgeting, cutting waste, restructuring wasteful departments and paying off debt (Alistair Darling take note!) is achievable by every council in the land, but few of them have the drive and the inspiration to do it.

Hammersmith and Fulham bring the lie to every council that turns its back on residents and expects them to be grateful for tax rises every year. It can be done, and every council in the land would do well to study the Hammersmith and Fulham model to learn how to do it.

Mark Wallace

Mark is a writer and political campaigner, ardent libertarian and eurosceptic.

Follow @wallaceme

Hardeep Singh

Let me be the first to congratulate those at H&F on a job well done. After all their primary objective should always be value for money services in other words find a balance between tax and service levels.
Christian Braun

Just a quick note to say that I a am a resident in Hammersmith & Fulham since 8 years and noted no deterioration in service (not a surprise since the former administration has increased the council tax every year before that with no improvement noticed).
Terry Schiff

Maybe you have seen no decrease in service provision Mr Braun because you are not reliant on any of the councils services. The vulnerable people in the borough including the old and disabled are now paying well over 35 more for the care and homwe help and meals on wheels. The council has also sacked over 600 staff. If every council in the UK did this unemployment would be so high that tax payers would have to pick up the bill. Ever thought of that?
C.Moore

I’ve lived in Hammersmith & Fulham for 45 years. The services are pretty much the same, the Town Hall Extension was put up and now it’s going to be pulled down. The dustbins are still emptied once a week and the streets are cleaned. My rates in 1962 were £28p.a. now they are £2344.
Chris Moore