Westminster City Council voted today, on March 6, to pass its budget for 2024/25.
Cllr David Boothroyd, Cabinet Member for Finance and Council Reform said:
We, along with councils across the country, are managing worsening financial pressures while delivering vital services that are lifelines to our residents. This year’s budget will direct funding to those who need it most, including an additional £1m to our Cost of Living Support Fund and an increase in pay for workers in the social care sector. Against the context of rising pressures and limited support from the Government, we need to do as the government assumes we will and raise council tax by 2.99%, plus the adult social care precept."
The budget allocates funding towards the council's efforts to reduce inequalities across the city by providing vital support to residents struggling with the cost of living, funding new initiatives to tackle the climate and ecological emergencies and addressing the gap in funding to sustain temporary accommodation for people facing homelessness.
Investments put forward in the budget include:
- An additional £1m to the council’s Cost of Living Support Fund and an £1m extension of the Council’s Rent Support Fund – bringing the total funding to support foodbanks, charities, and residents struggling the most to £21m.
- £450k to tackle the ecological emergency in Westminster.
- £1.2m to increase the hourly rate for workers in the social care sector by an additional £1.50 per hour.
- £1m to establish a new mobile CCTV network to address anti-social behaviour, waste and nuisance noise.
- £750k to enhance our waste and cleansing resources and keep the city streets clean
This financial year, the council has had to find £20.2m in savings through efficiencies and opportunities to increase income to combat these financial pressures. This is on top of £350m in savings made since 2010. Councils across the capital face a £400m shortfall as recent Government funding announcements for 2024/25 do not go far enough to meet the true cost of the pressures faced, as reported by London Councils who suggest local authorities in the capital are now spending more than £90m a month on temporary accommodation.
In recognition of challenging financial circumstances, Westminster City Council has put forward a 2.99% increase in the general element of the council tax and a 2% increase ringfenced to support adult social care.
Westminster’s council tax will remain one of the very lowest in the country as this rise will result in a weekly increase of 46p for residents in Band D properties, or £23.85 a year for the Westminster element, excluding the Greater London Authority precept. Westminster’s council tax will remain one of the lowest in the country.
To provide further support for those in greatest hardship, cabinet recently approved the continuation of the council’s 100% Council Tax Support scheme for 2024/25 which means households most in need can apply for full relief from council tax. Westminster is one of only a handful of local authorities in London to continue to have a 100% Council Tax Support scheme in 2024/25. As of today, this support has been extended to foster carers in the city who take care of our looked after children.
Read the Council’s 2024/25 budget.
This budget will also set the path for a third year of building a Fairer Westminster, outlined in our Delivery Plan for 2024/25. Last year the council’s Fairer Westminster projects saw the opening of three new Housing Service Centres, a £20m investment to launch an electric waste vehicle fleet to reduce air pollution, ongoing revival of local high streets in Paddington, Edgware Road, Harrow Road and Queensway and extra funding to the council’s £21million cost of living fund.
This year the council will look to deliver new initiatives which deliver more affordable homes, look after the health of our residents, build a strong and sustainable economy, and protect the environment. This year’s Fairer Westminster is about listening to our residents and working better with our partners. Our Westminster After Dark programme will revitalise how we manage the nighttime economy and our we are working more closely than ever with the voluntary sector to understand how inequalities should be addressed across the city.
Cllr Adam Hug, Leader of the Council said:
Over the last eighteen months we have focused on creating a city which is fair for everyone. Westminster remains a city of two halves, as the home of the nation’s most affluent areas, and some of the most deprived. This year, we will narrow in on the addressing the climate emergency and providing direct support to residents facing hardship. Now more than ever as we continue to face high costs, we are determined to reduce inequalities in Westminster.”
Published: 6 March 2024