Major investments planned to tackle crime, antisocial behaviour, flytipping and street cleaning.
Ealing Labour has announced its proposals for this year’s council budget. Ealing Labour are prioritising the things that local people have said that matter to them including measures to make our streets safer and cleaner. Thanks to investment from the Labour government this is the first council budget with no frontline service cuts for 16 years.
The budget includes 50 new remote deployable CCTV cameras in order to crack down on anti-social behaviour. It is proposed the fees for garden waste are being reduced by 25%, the fee for bulky waste collections is being reduced by 40%. There’s also money for young people and families the budget for early help services will be doubled to over £8m.
Council tax has to go up to support the additional demand for adult social care, support for children with additional needs, and the demand for temporary accommodation. Council tax will remain lower in real terms than it was 16 years ago when Labour took power. Ealing’s council tax remains one of the lowest in the UK.
Following the recent Fairer Funding Review by the Labour Government, Ealing has received additional funding to meet the growing demands faced by councils like Ealing. With careful financial management, Ealing is one of only a handful of councils in London that have managed to balance its books without spending its savings.
Cllr Peter Mason, Leader of the Council: said “Ealing Labour delivers for residents. Because of our prudent management of taxpayer’s money, we’ve kept the council afloat during the worst years of austerity.
Now, with the additional help of a Labour Government, we are finally able to invest in the things residents tell us they need. Cracking down on crime and antisocial behaviour, cleaner streets and more activities for young people. Ealing Labour is on your side.”
Cllr Steve Donnelly, Cabinet Member for an Inclusive Economy said: “This is the first time in 16 years we have been able to balance the books without cuts to frontline services, whilst meeting the ever increasing demand for social care and affordable homes.”
“Through ruthless efficiency, stretching every penny, and delivering true value for money, we’re finally able to start making significant investments in key public services.”
Notes
Growth in the budget includes:
To tackle crime and antisocial behaviour, Ealing Labour will:
- Introduce a new uniformed Street Enforcement Team, working as an active and visible deterrent to crime and antisocial behaviour.
- Increase the CCTV camera network by an additional 50 redeployable cameras, targeted at known crime and flytipping hot spots.
- Spend £200k on lighting improvements lampposts across the borough, brightening areas that residents have identified as areas of concern
- Reintroduce a year round tow service, to remove abandoned vehicles and cars parked on pavements
- A crackdown on blue badge fraud, following major improvements to the blue badge service announced last month.
- Expand the alley gate scheme to an additional 50 locations.
- Step up enforcement against illegal HMOs, following on from the record multi-million pound fines and prosecutions secured against criminal landlords in recent months.
To ensure our streets remain clean and tidy, Ealing Labour will:
- Reducing garden waste charge from £98.20 to £75 a year (£50 for concessions).
- Reducing bulky item collections from £49 to £30.
- Open a circular economy hub at Stirling Road, enabling residents to repair, reuse or recycle electrical and mechanical goods, alongside furniture and other household items.
- Fines raised from the highly successful flytipping crackdown will be further reinvested in a big spring clean, to be launched immediately, introducing new Neighbourhood Reuse and Recycling pilot that will include a timetable of mega skips deployed to Ealing’s seven towns to support residents to minimise waste going to landfill.
The budget has also announced vital improvements to Ealing’s parks and open spaces, as well as activities for young people including:
- An additional £1.6m to refurbish additional playgrounds across Ealing’s seven towns, as well as new floodlighting for playspaces and MUGAs to enable them to stay open for longer during the autumn months.
- Three new PlayZones in Greenford, Northolt and Perivale, on top of those already being delivered in Southall and Acton.
- The replacement of the Boles Bridge at the Brent Lodge Park
- Fully funding the restoration of the South Ealing Cemetery chapels, enabling them to be made accessible for public and community use.
- Refurbishment of toilets in Walpole Park (Ealing), Northala Fields (Northolt) and Brent Lodge Park (Hanwell).
To protect and support new parents, children and toddlers, the council will also double its financial support to its Early Help services, ensuring even more access to services throughout the borough, such as speech and language therapy, breastfeeding support, parenting support groups, baby and child health clinics and mental health support.