The Council's performance and spending plans
The change of Government in May 2010 saw the removal of the
previous administration’s elaborate national performance framework
for local government. While the Council consistently achieved
first-rate results under these regimes, it has welcomed the new
Coalition Government’s move to reduce the burden of external
assessments.
Throughout 2010/11, the Council has continued to perform very
strongly. Remaining external assessments rated our services as
excellent. The annual performance assessment of Adult Social Care
graded the Royal Borough as “performing excellently”. Children’s
Services also continue to perform excellently, with the very large
majority of services inspected by Ofsted rated as good or
outstanding and most being better than in similar areas and
nationally.
The annual Report to Taxpayers describes in more detail the
Council’s achievements in 2010/11 – from the positive impact of the
Council’s work with the Police on crime and antisocial behaviour,
to more of the Royal Borough’s parks than ever before being
recognised as among the finest in the country. Here is the
Report to Taxpayers 2010.
But it is the view of Royal Borough residents and service users
that matters most. Local people rate the Council highly. In the
2010 Survey of Londoners, eight out of ten residents said the
Council was doing a good job with 77 per cent agreeing that the
Royal Borough is efficient and well-run.
From being one of only three local authorities to achieve the
highest rating in each year of the Comprehensive Performance
Assessment (2002 to 2008), to achieving excellent results in the
first (and last) year of the Comprehensive Area Assessment
(2009).
The Council has traditionally had a strong sense of
accountability to local people and will continue to listen to their
views. It remains committed to openness and transparency and will
seek to ensure that local residents have access to the information
they require to hold the Council and its services to account.
The Council’s website already features details about senior
officer salaries, numbers of staff whose pay and benefits are above
£50,000 and payments over £500. This is in addition to a wide range
of previously available information, such as member allowances and
the way the Council manages its finances and makes decisions.
Visit the Council’s
Transparency web page.
What we spend
The Council will spend £400 million in 2011/12 on a wide range
of local services such as schools, social services, highways and
waste collection. A further £163 million will be provided by the
Government to pay for housing and council tax benefit in the
borough. Our budget requirement, after taking into account fee
income and Government funding, is £186 million.
The £186 million budget requirement is met from Government
formula grant of £108 million and council tax of £78 million. The
Council also collects nearly £31 million on behalf of the
Greater London Authority to pay for London wide services, such as
the Metropolitan Police.
The budget change between years is explained as follows:
|
Year-On-Year Budget Changes
|
£m |
| 2010/11 Budget Requirement |
184.2 |
| Cost increases (pay and price inflation) |
6.3 |
|
Changes in service spending:
Growth
Savings
|
20.6
-24.8
|
| Financing and other changes |
-0.3 |
| 2011/12 Budget Requirement |
186.0 |
Details of the Council’s budgeted spending and funding
are shown below:
2010/11 Estimates
| Services |
Net
£'000 |
| Adult Social Care |
52,632 |
| Central Services |
14,785 |
| Children's and Educational Services |
46,971 |
| Cultural and Related Services |
15,033 |
| Environmental and Regulatory Services |
32,597 |
| Highways and Transport Services |
1,133 |
| Housing Services |
19,208 |
| Planning Services |
5,346 |
| Total Service Budgets |
187,705 |
| Other e.g. financing changes |
12,908 |
| Area Based Grant |
(20,109) |
| Council Tax Freeze Grant |
0 |
| Levies including Garden Squares |
3,677 |
| Royal Borough Budget Requirement |
184,181 |
| Less government Formula Grant |
(105,958) |
| Surplus (-) or deficit (+) on Collection Fund |
(308) |
| Royal Borough Council Tax Requirement |
77,915 |
| Divide by tax base |
99,558 |
| Equals Royal Borough Band D Council Tax |
783 |
| Add Greater London Authority Precept |
30,845 |
| Total Council Tax Requirement |
108,760 |
| Divide by tax base |
99,558 |
| Equals Total Band D Council Tax |
1,092 |
2011/12 Estimates
| Services |
Spending £'000 |
Income £'000 |
Net £'000 |
| Adult Social Care |
64,369 |
(15,533) |
48,836 |
| Central Services |
60,823 |
(47,007) |
13,816 |
| Children's and Educational Services |
137,718 |
(93,040) |
44,678 |
| Cultural and Related Services |
17,256 |
(3,064) |
14,192 |
| Environmental and Regulatory Services |
39,560 |
(8,840) |
30,720 |
| Highways and Transport Services |
39,648 |
(39,058) |
590 |
| Housing Services |
183,953 |
(160,931) |
23,022 |
| Planning Services |
11,597 |
(6,815) |
4,782 |
| Total Service Budgets |
554,924 |
(374,288) |
180,636 |
| Other e.g. financing changes |
5,050 |
(1,000) |
4,050 |
| Area Based Grant |
|
|
0 |
| Council Tax Freeze Grant |
|
(1,947 |
(1,947) |
| Levies including Garden Squares |
3,263 |
|
3,263 |
| Royal Borough Budget Requirement |
563,237 |
(377,235) |
186,002 |
| Less government Formula Grant |
|
|
(108,267) |
| Surplus (-) or deficit (+) on Collection Fund |
|
|
151 |
| Royal Borough Council Tax Requirement |
|
|
77,886 |
| Divide by tax base |
|
|
99,526 |
| Equals Royal Borough Band D Council Tax |
|
|
783 |
| Add Greater London Authority Precept |
|
|
30,835 |
| Total Council Tax Requirement |
|
|
108,721 |
| Divide by tax base |
|
|
99,526 |
| Equals Total Band D Council Tax |
|
|
1,092 |
Please note this total spend includes £163 million of housing and
council tax benefits payments.
The Council's Services – a snapshot
Family and Children’s Services
- 10,000 pupils in 26 primary and four secondary schools
- 240 places in four nursery schools/children’s centres
- 1,200 nursery aged children supported for 15 hours of free
education in private, voluntary and independent nursery
settings
- 75 places in one special school and a hospital school educating
over 75 children
- 60 places in the pupil referral unit
- Eight children’s centres, 13 play centres and four
youth/activity centres
- Care of over 130 children looked after by the Council or in
'Guardianships' and support for approximately 150 children
leaving care
- Kensington Central Library and five branch libraries
Housing, Health and Adult Social Care
- 323 older people in residential and nursing homes and 79 people
in supported accommodation
- 1,425 older people receiving home care
- 200 people with learning disabilities, physical disabilities,
sensory impairment or mental health needs in residential
and supported care
- 436 people supported to overcome drug or alcohol problems and
41 people with HIV/AIDS
- 26,201 residents issued with a Freedom Pass
- 2,843 members of the Taxicard Service
- 2,861 people issued with a Blue Disabled Parking Badge
- 1,100 people in temporary accommodation
- 3,309 users of 'Supporting People' services
- 1,509 food safety inspections
- 14,490 pest control inspections/visits
- 10,336 service requests to the Noise and Nuisance
Service
Planning and Borough Development
- Processing of 3,500 planning applications and 1,200 enforcement
cases
- Processing of 1,250 Building Regulation applications
- 5,000 full searches of the local land charges
register
- Care of 7,000 street trees
Transport, Environment and Leisure Services
- Collection of over 85,000 tonnes of refuse from 86,000 homes
and businesses, over 23 per cent of which is recycled
- Cleansing of 460km of pavements and roads
- Management of eight major parks and 100 smaller open
spaces
- 44,000 tickets sold for 47 performances at Opera Holland
Park
- Four museums and galleries, two sports centres and two
cemeteries
- Issue and monitoring of 1,000 premises licenses
- Two car parks, 38,000 residents’ parking permits and 19,000
parking bay suspensions each year
- Maintenance of 208km of public highway
- Illumination of 11,000 street lights, 3,500 signs/bollards and
12,300 parking signs
Corporate Services
- Management of 90,000 council tax accounts
- Processing of 79,500 benefit claims
- 1,200 marriages and civil partnerships performed
- 76 Police Community Support Officers funded
- Management of over 300 commercial properties