Hounslow Council have agreed to look into reviewing the 2023/24 Local Government Financial Settlement at a council meeting on 31st January to provide more support for vital services. 

During the council meeting Councillor Farhaan Rehman proposed an agenda item talking about the financial settlement and how it was insufficient to support the funding of vital services. 

Hounslow Council agreed at the meeting to: propose to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to review how the settlement figure was reached; safeguard Council Tax and crisis support funds to support the poorest in the community; work with other Local Authorities to campaign for a five-year settlement figure; look to secure extra funding through partnerships, grant applications and bids; and write to HMRC to ensure 2021 census figures are used in all relevant calculations. 

Councillor Rehman said: "This Council recognises that the critical public services are in dire need of investment and without further financial support lives will be at risk.  

"People who were donating to foodbanks are now using them. Children are going to school hungry, and the only meal many have is their free school meal while families are facing increasing financial pressures.  

"Without immediate action councils will need to make increasingly difficult decisions about the services which will have to reduce or stop all together. 

"The settlement fails to offer certainty or to give local authorities opportunities for long term planning or service transformation.  

"The Government must offer real support to tackle costs and get a grip on inflation rather than building in an expectation that local taxation is the answer to the problem." 

The Provisional financial settlement proposed a series of changes to help councils, including a 9.2% increase to Core Spending Power, and increasing Council Tax referendum threshold and Social Care Precept. 

For more detail and what else was discussed at the meeting, visit the Hounslow Council website.