Consultation on Council Tax Increase

Brent Council's Cabinet will meet on Monday 24 October to consider a report that proposes increasing Council tax by nearly 4%. The report outlines the challenges still facing local Councils which includes a proposal to protect local services. The cost to householders at the proposed level would work out at 0.85 pence per week on a Band D property.

The report sets out how councils are still in an era of austerity and are facing further cuts in Government funding despite growing demand for local services from an increasing and ageing population. The paper also includes some savings proposals although these are relatively small compared to recent council budgets.

Last year was the first year council tax had risen in Brent for six years after successive freezes despite Government funding being slashed by £117million since 2010.

Cllr Muhammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council, said:

"Imagine your household bills went up every year, but your salary kept being cut. You would have to make some tough choices and find new ways to make your money go further.

"That's what this council has been doing in finding new, more efficient ways to maintain and improve the services that we all need, but it has also meant making some very difficult decisions.

"We know how important our local services are to the people of Brent which is why, rather than cutting back on those vital services, the option of raising income through a small council tax increase to protect these services is being considered.

"The choice we face in Brent is this: will we pay a bit extra each month to keep our services available to those who need them, or will we let the Government's cuts to our budget further limit the services we can provide?

"As a Cabinet, we will discuss the draft proposals set out in the report at our next meeting and, if approved, will then put them to residents to have their say in a detailed budget consultation."

The budget consultation is set to run from November to December with a series of public meetings arranged for January. A final decision on the budget will be taken by Full Council in February 2017.

Protecting local services is the top priority for your local Councillors and we would welcome your views.

Fryent Councillors Shama Tatler, Ruth Moher and George Crane



You can read the Cabinet papers here :http://democracy.brent.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=455&MId=3214&_ga=1.215284823.1392537760.1476786642