Ealing Council Tax To Increase and Refuse Changes Ahead


Opposition say claims of strong financial management and investment are 'nonsense'

Ealing Council's claims of 'investing' in the borough have been dismissed as 'spin' by the opposition.

The Labour run authority agreed a package of finance measures at full council which will see a 1.99% increase in core council tax, alongside the government’s 2% social care precept.

The council say over the last 10 years, the government has cut Ealing’s core funding by 64% and at the same time, demand for services has increased significantly.

Over the next financial year the refuse service is being taken from the current contractor, Amey, and will be brought back under council control. £5.35million is being spent on a new fleet of trucks and the lifting of employees to the London Living Wage.

Cabinet agreed to allocate £5million towards improving the borough’s roads and pavements and £2.8million in the safety of council-owned buildings, for essential safety and maintenance.

The council says it's nearly half way to meeting its target of 2,500 genuinely affordable new homes and claim the borough has the most ambitious council house building programme in London.

In terms of environmentall targets Ealing should be carbon neutral by 2030 and the council plans to switch to using 100% green and renewable electricity.

Councillor Bassam Mahfouz, cabinet member for finance and leisure, said: “Despite ten years of significant government cuts and rising demand, we have delivered a balanced budget that allows for investment. Through our innovative  Future Ealing programme and strong financial management, I am delighted to now be in a position where we can deliver a budget of investment in key areas for our borough.

“This is a budget that will invest over £5m in our recycling, parks and street cleaning services and £5m investment in improving the state of our roads and pavements.

“In addition to that, the money we do spend will be used to make sure Ealing is a fairer borough that is doing more to tackle the climate emergency.  We will be doing this by paying more people the London Living Wage, introducing a fairer council tax reduction scheme and continuing to deliver on our pledge to build more genuinely affordable homes, as well as moving to using green energy. We want to keep Ealing a great place to live and work.”

Councillor Julian Bell, leader of Ealing Council, said, “Our funding challenges continue, and we have a budget gap of nearly £37.6million to bridge by the end of 2023. We take seriously our responsibility towards our most vulnerable families, adults and young people are doing everything we can to protect and develop our front-line services, but it’s frustrating and concerning that we cannot plan ahead in the way that we need to.

“At the same time, want to protect our environment, invest in that services that matter to local people, like Greener Ealing, and create opportunities so that everyone has the chance to thrive. This budget moves us towards those goals, but we now need proper investment from government.”

Opposition Conservative Councillor, Greg Stafford said, ''Claims of investment are the usual nonsense from the local Labour Party. The rubbish and street cleaning contract is changing in name only. Bins will still only be collected once a fortnight and streets swept a paltry 4 times a year! Only Labour could have the brass neck to spend £7 million a year more for the exact same abysmal service and call it investment.

''The people of Ealing will not be fooled by the PR and spin - they can see the state of our Borough with their own eyes. They are paying more Council Tax for worse services. A damning legacy for this Labour Administration.''

The 2020/21 council tax bill for the average Band D property in Ealing will be £1,571.22.

The Mayor of London’s share of council tax bills, known as the precept, will rise to £332.07 for Band D taxpayers- around 21% of the total bill. This money goes to the Greater London Authority to pay for the Metropolitan Police, the London Fire Brigade, Transport for London and other services, and projects managed by the GLA.

March 10, 2020