Introducing our Budget for 2008/2009

Message from the Leader

Dear Resident

We fulfilled our pledge to freeze our element of the Council Tax in 2006/07 and 2007/08. However, we now need to raise the Council Tax, albeit below the rate of retail price inflation, to ensure that we can maintain and improve vital services.

Our funding from the Government has increased by only 2 per cent, not even keeping pace with inflation, yet many of the costs outside our control, such as energy, are rising much faster.

To limit the rise in the Council Tax we have made £4.9 million of savings from our budget and this has allowed us to reinvest £5.1 million to increase spending on those areas that you have told us matter to you, such as children’s services, community safety, the environment and adult social care.

Message from the Leader

Our Council Tax remains amongst the lowest in London and in the country. A household living in a Band D property will pay £745.45 to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in 2008/09 and £309.82 to the Greater London Authority, giving a total Council Tax for a Band D property of £1,055.27, an overall increase of 2.3 per cent. Some households will also pay an amount towards the upkeep of a garden square.

The Council has been rated as one of the very best in the country for its services by the independent Audit Commission. Inspectors have said that we are a four star authority, providing outstanding services to children and using resources well. We are one of only two councils nationally to have been top-rated consistently over the last six years.

You can find more information about the Council, the Audit Commission’s findings, and our budget and longer term financial plans on our website, www.rbkc.gov.uk.

 

• Your Council Tax and Business Rates 2008/09 - Booklet [PDF file] (file size 1.13 Mb).
• www.rbkc.gov.uk

Local Taxes

• Council Tax
• Council Tax Benefit
• Business Rates
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