Council continues to fight government underfunding to deliver value for money services

The council is also calling on the government to deliver on their manifesto commitment to provide fair local authority funding following years of underfunding.  

The unprecedented pressures the council is facing, due to soaring demand and costs for social care and housing services, as well as the additional half a million pound cost generated by the government's National Insurance increase, have placed a strain on resources, further exacerbated by the requirement for the borough to shoulder more than its fair share of the costs associated with demand for our services arising from arrivals at Heathrow, a duty undertaken on behalf of the government but one they refuse to adequately pay for.   

Despite these financial demands, Hillingdon is continuing its fight to overcome them by investing in services and reshaping how the authority works to achieve sustainability and value for money. However, it is now necessary to consider implementing a charge for the collection of garden waste, a charge nearly all London boroughs have been making for some years. 

Hillingdon will invest up to £342 million in services and facilities, and £514 million in extra housing stock and stock improvement, from 2025/26 to 2029/30.  

Highlights of the four-year programme include:  

• £61 million investment in roads and pavements 
• £30 million to invest in care home capacity 
• £25.5 million increasing special educational needs placements. 
• £23.1 million for the proposed new Water Sports and Outdoor Activity Centre  
• £22.4 million on carrying out school building condition works 
• £20 million on initiatives to reduce the council's carbon footprint (£15 million to replace the cremators at Breakspear Crematorium) 
• £19.3 million investment in digital technologies and innovation 
• £19 million for the Platinum Jubilee Leisure Centre in West Drayton  
• £15.8 million for the modernisation of the Civic Centre  
• £15 million to carry out adaptations to residents' homes 
• £7.2 million on the Chrysalis scheme, including park and playground enhancements 

The council continues to prioritise the delivery of its rigorous savings programme to keep more of residents' hard-earned money in their pockets.  

Core council tax will increase by 2.99 per cent and a levy of 2 per cent to fund residents' adult social care will also be charged. This means that council tax for a Band D property in Hillingdon will be £1,462 a year. This equates to an increase of £1.33 a week, ensuring it is still the lowest in north west London. Whereas it will be £1,905.48 in Harrow (£443.48 more expensive), £1,595.44 in Hounslow and expected to be £1,550.64 in Ealing. In addition, £490.38 per Band D property will be added as a result of the GLA precept. 

Cllr Martin Goddard, Cabinet Member for Finance, said: "We are continuing to champion our residents to ensure they don't pay as much as other boroughs through our ongoing savings drive to cut costs, do things differently and deliver value for money services.  

"We stepped in to help to protect them from the government's winter fuel cuts, and it is outrageous that the government's National Insurance tax on the council has now left the borough footing a further half a million pound bill.  

"The scale of the financial challenge continues to mount, and while we're fighting hard, we're already a low spending authority receiving less core funding than other similar outer London boroughs.  

"As I've said before, the way local government is funded is fundamentally broken. Without a systematic overhaul to stabilise the situation nationally, it continues to create uncertainty and volatility rather than meeting residents' needs, including the most vulnerable in our society."