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Havering Council’s Cabinet to discuss proposed Council Tax increase

Published: Friday, 2 February 2018

Cabinet members are set to discuss at a Cabinet Meeting next week (Wednesday 7 February), the Council’s 2018/19 budget and Council Tax together with its Medium Term Financial Strategy.

The discussion will include a proposed increase in Council Tax of 1.5 percent and an increase of 2.0 percent in the Adult Social Care precept, a total increase of 3.5 percent.

Amidst continuing substantial funding reductions from Central Government, the Council continues to experience growth in demand for its services, particularly in relation to Adults and Children’s social care and homelessness which support the most vulnerable in the community. Havering has made savings of more than £56m across a range of services since 2014/15 in order to meet these service pressures and balance the budget.

The Council launched its budget consultation early in January to understand residents’ views on some of the savings proposals, including Council Tax changes. The consultation, that ends this Friday 2 February, will be evaluated and discussed by the Cabinet on Wednesday, ahead of the budget and council tax setting decision at the Full Council meeting on Wednesday 21 February.

Councillor Roger Ramsey, Leader of the Council, said: “Councils are able to raise the Council Tax by 2.99 percent and the Adult Social Care precept by up to 3 percent. However, we aim to keep the increase in Havering as low as possible, as we understand that there are a variety of financial burdens upon families across the borough.

“By law, we must balance our budget each year and we aim to make savings that protect front line services to the community as far as possible to support families. We must therefore put forward savings proposals totalling £2.157m in 2018/19 and increase the Havering Council Tax by 3.5 percent in order to set a legal budget.”