Budget Blues and Council Meetings

This week’s big story was, of course, the budget – it’s a national issue, so not quite my remit, but will have far reaching consequences for Hounslow Council, our local economy and, of course, the personal finances of each and every one of us.

The budget, of course, wasn’t the only thing going on over the past week. So from what Rachel Reeves means for Chiswick to the potentially less glamorous (but locally significant!) Overview and Scrutiny Committee – here’s a few thoughts on my past week as your local councillor in Chiswick Homefields.

Budget Blues

It’s safe to say that Rachel Reeves’ first budget didn’t exactly cover the new Chancellor in glory. The party that promised no massive hikes in taxes, and gave a cast iron guarantee of no tax rises for working people, ended up delivering the largest cash terms increase in taxes in British history. Fair to say that Rishi’s warnings about Labour’s plans for power were pretty spot on after all…

I won’t go through the line-by-line details, which people far smarter than me have already dissected. From the market reaction (higher gilt yields and a plummeting pound) it seems those who know what they’re talking about haven’t exactly given the budget a big seal of approval. I will say, though, that I’ve already received a number of emails from worried local businesses about the impact the Chancellor’s new jobs tax will have on them. The Institute for Fiscal Studies reckons the massive hike in National Insurance Contributions will increase the cost of employing someone on the median wage by a staggering £900 – the general consensus is that most of this increase will be passed onto working people in the way of slower wage growth, but it will have a secondary effect of forcing many businesses into a hiring freeze. Some are concerned about being forced to shut down altogether.

Those who regularly read my columns here and elsewhere will know I’m also particularly concerned about the state of housing in the borough, and our continued inability (as a country, to be fair) to build the new homes we desperately need. Not a huge amount in the budget to be cheerful about on this front either and, as was reported the other month, the government has already radically reduced the local housing target in our borough by 41% at a time when the housing crisis continues to be acute in our city. Not only are we getting the massive tax rises Labour promised weren’t coming, we’re also going backwards when it comes to fixing the housing crisis.

In terms of our borough’s local government funding package, we won’t have details about how much money we received as a council until later this year. In last week’s Overview and Scrutiny committee, I asked about what Hounslow’s administration was expecting in terms of a financial settlement – the answer was non-committal (which is fair enough, none of us will know until it’s announced), but it was made clear that there’s hope lower inflation and lower interest rates will mean good news. Unfortunately, the Office for Budget Responsibility confirmed that Rachel Reeves’ massive tax and spend budget was likely inflationary, and the higher gilt yields from a spooked market suggest interest rates won’t be falling as quickly as they were on track to do. In short – the impact of this budget on our local position is to cause, at best, a lot more uncertainty.

Final thought on the budget’s impact locally and broken promises on tax – eager followers of local election campaigns may remember Labour’s announcement in 2023 that it had a ‘fully costed plan’ to freeze council tax if it was in government. Of course, I don’t have a crystal ball, but given Hounslow Council is now being forced to consult on removing the council tax support scheme for local people on low income, I suspect that may be another promise broken come the unveiling of the local budget in February next year.

Of course, all of this was compounded by the fact that the treasury still can’t produce a single shred of proof for the supposed black hole in public finances that all of this is supposed to be fixing. Given the revelation that Labour was, at best, a bit economical with the truth during the election, I’m not sure many people are willing to just take their word for it anymore. Could it be that a £40 billion rise in taxes and massive additional government borrowing was, in fact, part of Labour’s plan all along…?

Overview and Scrutiny

Away from the budget, my big local meeting of last week was the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee. I’m the only opposition councillor on the committee, as well as the only one from this end of the borough – potentially not the best composition for a committee expressly tasked with scrutinising council policy and finances, but it does mean I’m kept on my toes!

We discussed, amongst other things, an independent report into the council’s scrutiny process, and as mentioned above preparations for our local budget for the next financial year.

My Labour colleagues were a bit shy in the meeting (keen followers of the Brentford Today Facebook page will have seen an excruciating video clip from the proceedings that demonstrates this point well), but there were some interesting nuggets on the future of council finances in particular. Hounslow Council is currently battling a £30 million funding gap (so much for the balanced budget announced just a few months ago) and is “keeping all options on the table” to make up the shortfall. One of those options is reducing the amount of help given to those on low income in the borough in the form of council tax support – the proposal is currently going through consultation, and views on the scheme can be submitted here.

Cafe Together

I wrote in my last W4 Blog that Café Together, a brilliant local charity offering warm meals and support to those in need, returned to Chiswick last month at St Michael’s on Elmwood Road. I’m pleased that the charity has just announced it’s venue for November through to mid-December, and will be open for meals on Thursday evenings until the 19th December at Hounslow Methodist Church on Bell Road.

The charity is an invaluable resource for local people in our borough, offering a warm meal, conversation and advice to those in need. As I wrote last month, this will be particularly important as the winter months come in and some older residents struggle with increased energy costs.

A weekend pick me up?

If you’re feeling a bit down about the budget, Chiswick has an excellent pick-me-up this weekend in the form of the always brilliant Flower Market. Those with greener fingers than me have suggested now is a good time to plant shrubs and perennials so, if you’re on the look out for something to spruce up the garden, or just want to enjoy a buzzing Chiswick, the Flower Market is the place to be on Sunday!

Cllr Jack Emsley

jack.emsley@hounslow.gov.uk

07977 396017

COUNCIL DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Thursday, 7 November : Planning committee

Tuesday, 12 November : Cabinet

Tuesday, 26 November : Borough Council

CONSERVATIVE COUNCILLOR SURGERIES

Chiswick: Every Saturday from 9.30am to 10.30am at Chiswick Library (the eight Conservative councillors take this surgery in turn).

Gunnersbury: First Saturday of the month from 10am to 11am at The Gunnersbury Triangle Club, Triangle Way, off The Ridgeway, W3 8LU (at least one of the Chiswick Gunnersbury ward councillors takes this surgery). 

CONSERVATIVE COUNCILLORS and CONTACTS

Chiswick Gunnersbury ward

Cllr Joanna Biddolph joanna.biddolph@hounslow.gov.uk 07976 703446

Cllr Ranjit Gill ranjit.gill@hounslow.gov.uk 07976 702956

Cllr Ron Mushiso ron.mushiso@hounslow.gov.uk 07976 702887

Chiswick Homefields ward

Cllr Jack Emsley jack.emsley@hounslow.gov.uk 07977 396017

Cllr Gerald McGregor gerald.mcgregor@hounslow.gov.uk 07866 784821

Cllr John Todd john.todd@hounslow.gov.uk 07866 784651

Chiswick Riverside ward

Cllr Gabriella Giles gabriella.giles@hounslow.gov.uk 07966 270823

Cllr Peter Thompson peter.thompson@hounslow.gov.uk 07977 395810

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