Introducing our Budget for 2011/12
Message from the Leader
Dear Resident,
The Council Tax and Business
Rates 2011/12 booklet contains information on council tax
and the Council’s performance and spending plans. It also describes
how you may be able to pay less council tax, if you qualify for a
discount or exemption or if you can claim council tax benefit.
We are freezing council tax at the
same level as 2010/11, as is the Greater London Authority. The
Royal Borough’s council tax rate will therefore remain the fourth
lowest in England. Full details of the tax, including the levy of
the Greater London Authority and those for garden squares, are set
out on pages 3 to 5.
As part of the Government's efforts to
contain public spending, grants received by the Council will fall
by over £18 million in 2011/12. The Council must also deal with
higher prices and obligations such as funding the Freedom Pass. As
you would expect, we are making the savings necessary to deliver a
balanced budget. Despite the savings being made, the Council
intends to continue to provide excellent public services as it has
strived to limit the impact on services you use.
We know that Government grants will
fall further in future years. Therefore, the Council is
developing a range of responses to deliver even more significant
savings. These include reducing the cost of our most expensive
services and innovative arrangements to integrate services with our
neighbours, Westminster City Council and the London Borough of
Hammersmith and Fulham.
There is more information about the
Council's work, our performance and plans, and our budget on the
rest of the website: www.rbkc.gov.uk
Councillor Merrick
Cockell
Leader of the Council