Focus on fighting anti-social behaviour as cabinet approves budget plans

More City Inspectors are being hired to spearhead the fight against anti-social behaviour alongside hundreds of new CCTV cameras being rolled out across the City.

The recruitment of eight new City Inspectors – council staff who work along with police to help manage community safety – is among a number of budget proposals focused on anti social behaviour formally approved by Westminster City Council’s Cabinet. (Monday Feb 17). The new officers being recruited will concentrate only on tackling anti social behaviour across the city.

Councillors agreed to double the number of CCTV cameras on the streets to 200, including 40 new cameras in the West End. The new CCTV network is part of an overall £2m for anti-social and city management measures.

The installation of up to 40 new cameras in the West End – focusing on Soho and Leicester square - is the most significant council security investment in the area in nearly a decade. The roll-out of CCTV – which began last year – has already paid dividends with pictures being used in police evidence.

The Budget measures approved by cabinet will help relieve pressure on Westminster’s housing waiting list by investing an additional £140 million into buying temporary accommodation.

A major new investment of £2.6m will go into cushioning the cost of adult social care – meaning hundreds of adult social care users will now not pay for care while hard working care assistants will earn more.

Despite the scale of new investment, the Council Tax rise equals just 48p a week for a Band D* property, which means Westminster still has one of the lowest Council Tax rates in the country. The Westminster City Council part of the Council Tax rises by 4.99 per cent overall – 2.99 per cent for council services and 2 per cent for the portion set aside for adult social care.

Headline announcements in the proposed budget include:

• An extra £1.2m to tackle rough sleeping and help people off the pavements and into safety
• An additional £1.4m to increase the pay of the personal care assistants (over 400 staff)  who provide care for Westminster residents through direct payments. This will help more people who use adult social care to employ the carer they want as they will now be able to pay a competitive salary.
• An additional £1.2m to level up the threshold at which people start to pay for their social care costs so that it is the same for everyone regardless of age. This will help over 460 residents aged under 65 to keep more of their income before paying care bills.
• An extra £1m on cost of living support – for example free school meals during school holidays, supermarket food vouchers, a hardship fund and supporting specialist advice centres.
• Investing in new Community hubs such as Ernest Harris House opening this Spring and the Pimlico Community hub at site of the Old Pimlico Library opening in 2026

The Council will also deliver new savings of nearly £30m by 2028 through measures including greater efficiencies in contracts and the switch to an electric cleaning and waste fleet.

The proposed budget – which will be voted on at full Council on March 5^th – sets out detailed spending plans for managing more than 20,000 local authority properties under what is called the Housing Revenue Account. The business plan includes total capital investment of £916m over the next 5 years and a total of £2.5bn over the full 30 years. The budget also sets out the business plan for funding the council’s fairer Westminster programme under its capital strategy. The Council is proposing a gross capital programme up to 2038/39 of £2.5bn, partially offset by nearly £1.2bn of income, giving a net budget of £1.3bn.

Cllr Adam Hug, leader of Westminster City Council, said:

Safety and assurance for our residents – whether on the streets, keeping a roof over their heads or with help for the less well-off – is at the very heart of this Budget.

“Like all London councils, we are facing unprecedented demands on our services with spiralling costs for housing and care. I am proud that we have been able through careful management and savings to target money to those who need it most while keeping a rise in Council tax to the bare minimum.

“We all know everything is more expensive these days – food, rent, and looking after elderly family members. We are keeping bills down for those who can least afford it, but I am also pleased we can increase the hourly pay of those care assistants who do such a vital job but are often on the lower end of the pay scale.

“Wherever you live in Westminster, you should be able to enjoy your surroundings without fear of those dealing drugs or committing other crimes and anti-social behaviour that can sometimes blight our neighbourhoods. Our new, redeployable cameras are already helping in court prosecutions and we will deploy them wherever residents need them most.”

Full details of the proposed budget are available here: Agenda for Cabinet on Monday 17th February, 2025, 6.30 pm | Westminster City Council