Last night, at the budget setting meeting of Camden Council, Labour proposed a 4.99% Council tax rise. The Conservatives proposed budget amendments to reduce the rise to just 1.5%. The amendments are set out below.
Incredibly the Lib Dems did not oppose the Labour budget and abstained. What is the point of the Lib Dems?
Proposed by Cllr Gio Spinella and seconded by Cllr Stephen Stark.
The Conservative Budget amendment for the incoming year looks at three aspects.
- We aim to help Camden residents by reducing the Council tax increase by 1.5% so that the actual core increase is only 1.49%- because we believe that money is better in the pockets of the residents and we have costed how to retain the council’s current level of service provision.
- We also are aware that there are many residents in Camden who require council assistance and to that effect we propose a six month plan to open all Camden libraries from 9AM to 7Pm every day – in addition to those libraries which are already open to 8 such as Swiss Cottage and 5 St Pancras Square- to act as a warm bank and as an energy bank for our more vulnerable residents. Such an additional function for our libraries would also have the benefit of helping social cohesion in these difficult times.
- Finally although the cost of living is the paramount concern for every Camden resident, we would be remiss in not focusing on one of the Council’s core services and we once again urge this administration to reconsider its current rubbish policies, restore the weekly bin collections and extend the opening hours of Regis Road recycling centre for at least one evening a week to allow residents who work the chance to bring in their recycling. We also urge the adoption of the more advanced robot bins which would be necessary in the high footfall density areas of Camden.
These savings are achieved by primarily sharing services as well as renting the top two floors of 5 St Pancras Square. We are aware that these are not new proposals but this council has recognised in the past the benefits of economies of scale. It is our firm belief that this route hasn’t be significantly explored with the boroughs in central London that have had success with such models. We urge the administration to reconsider and re-visit this in the changed political circumstances.
The Executive Director Corporate Services confirms that, should the amendments be agreed, the assurances required by Section 25 of the Local Government Act 2003 with regard the adequacy of the reserves and the robustness of the estimates have been met and, therefore, that this still constitutes a balanced budget for 2023/24. The Executive Director Corporate Services or other officers have not been able to give these proposals the depth of consideration and due diligence to be able to recommend this as a course of action or to assess the financial impacts of the proposals beyond 2023/24. It has not been possible to make a full and comprehensive assessment of the impact of these proposals (such as those linked to the future use of our buildings or the impact on the existing workforce) and the associated implementation issues and risks.
It should also be noted that the full economic and social impact of both the Covid pandemic and the Cost of Living Crisis into 2023/24 and beyond is not yet fully known.
