LB Harrow Draft Budget 2024/25

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Welcome to the Draft Budget 2024/25 consultation page.

London Borough of Harrow's consultation on the Draft Budget for 2024/25 will run for five weeks from 20 December 2023 to 24 January 2024.

This survey has now closed.

What is this consultation about?

Every year, we deliver services to more than 261,000 people.

Some are statutory that we must deliver by law, others essential and some are what we consider important - they all help us restore pride in Harrow and deliver our key priorities:

  • A council that puts residents first
  • A borough that is clean and safe
  • A place where those in need are supported.

We must now look at how we are going to pay for services next year – and future years. And we want to know what you think.



Where does the money come from?

We are heavily reliant on Council Tax to fund our core budget.

While we receive Government funding to help us deliver services – they tell us how we must use this money for example on schools, public health and housing benefits.

This year, almost 80% of our day-to-day (revenue) budget is funded by you from Council Tax – that’s £154m out of £196.3m to be exact.

What happened this year?

This year, we increased Council tax by 4.99% (2.99% for Council services and the 2% social care levy) giving us an extra £7.8m to spend on services. But rising prices caused by high inflation has made it more expensive to deliver council services.

This year rising costs in Adult Services due to inflation and demand increased our spend by £5m. Rising inflation also pushed our salary bill higher. This year we budgeted the pay award would cost us £4m (a 4% increase). But the nationally set pay award equated to an average 7% increase, creating a shortfall of £3.2m.

In Harrow we have one of the fastest growing aging populations compared to the rest of London. We are supporting an increasing number of adults with complex needs and have high levels of children with special educational needs – who may go on to need additional support to live independently as they become adults.

While soaring levels of homelessness has pushed the bill for temporary accommodation by 30% to more than £4m this year.

So what are the council doing?

Before setting our budget in February and council tax bills hitting your doormats in March, like you we’re having to look at our spending. We know that the next few years will continue to be challenging.

Our draft budget for next year (2024/25) has been put together to ensure every pound is spent on services that put residents first, deliver a clean and safe borough and support those in need.

The pressures that we saw last year have carried over into this financial year and this is why we have made the difficult decision to propose an increase in Council Tax by 4.99% next year. This is 2.99% for council services and the 2% government levy specifically ring-fenced for spending on adult social care.

What's the outlook?

If we do this, the good news is that next year we will have a balanced budget giving us enough money to pay for everything we need to do in 2024-25 – thanks to robust financial management and making savings.

How can you help?

As we plan our spending for the year ahead, we'd like to hear your views. Our consultation has some questions for you on budgets. There’s information here that explains where our money comes in, and more importantly where it goes.

We’d really like you to take a look and tell us what you think - the consultation survey is at the bottom of this page.

Before you complete the survey

We recommend you:

Anything else?

We've also included some Frequently Asked Questions and answers to help you navigate council finances and budget-setting.

Welcome to the Draft Budget 2024/25 consultation page.

London Borough of Harrow's consultation on the Draft Budget for 2024/25 will run for five weeks from 20 December 2023 to 24 January 2024.

This survey has now closed.

What is this consultation about?

Every year, we deliver services to more than 261,000 people.

Some are statutory that we must deliver by law, others essential and some are what we consider important - they all help us restore pride in Harrow and deliver our key priorities:

  • A council that puts residents first
  • A borough that is clean and safe
  • A place where those in need are supported.

We must now look at how we are going to pay for services next year – and future years. And we want to know what you think.



Where does the money come from?

We are heavily reliant on Council Tax to fund our core budget.

While we receive Government funding to help us deliver services – they tell us how we must use this money for example on schools, public health and housing benefits.

This year, almost 80% of our day-to-day (revenue) budget is funded by you from Council Tax – that’s £154m out of £196.3m to be exact.

What happened this year?

This year, we increased Council tax by 4.99% (2.99% for Council services and the 2% social care levy) giving us an extra £7.8m to spend on services. But rising prices caused by high inflation has made it more expensive to deliver council services.

This year rising costs in Adult Services due to inflation and demand increased our spend by £5m. Rising inflation also pushed our salary bill higher. This year we budgeted the pay award would cost us £4m (a 4% increase). But the nationally set pay award equated to an average 7% increase, creating a shortfall of £3.2m.

In Harrow we have one of the fastest growing aging populations compared to the rest of London. We are supporting an increasing number of adults with complex needs and have high levels of children with special educational needs – who may go on to need additional support to live independently as they become adults.

While soaring levels of homelessness has pushed the bill for temporary accommodation by 30% to more than £4m this year.

So what are the council doing?

Before setting our budget in February and council tax bills hitting your doormats in March, like you we’re having to look at our spending. We know that the next few years will continue to be challenging.

Our draft budget for next year (2024/25) has been put together to ensure every pound is spent on services that put residents first, deliver a clean and safe borough and support those in need.

The pressures that we saw last year have carried over into this financial year and this is why we have made the difficult decision to propose an increase in Council Tax by 4.99% next year. This is 2.99% for council services and the 2% government levy specifically ring-fenced for spending on adult social care.

What's the outlook?

If we do this, the good news is that next year we will have a balanced budget giving us enough money to pay for everything we need to do in 2024-25 – thanks to robust financial management and making savings.

How can you help?

As we plan our spending for the year ahead, we'd like to hear your views. Our consultation has some questions for you on budgets. There’s information here that explains where our money comes in, and more importantly where it goes.

We’d really like you to take a look and tell us what you think - the consultation survey is at the bottom of this page.

Before you complete the survey

We recommend you:

Anything else?

We've also included some Frequently Asked Questions and answers to help you navigate council finances and budget-setting.

  • CLOSED: This survey has concluded.

    Have your say on the Draft Budget 2024/25

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Page last updated: 03 Apr 2024, 05:34 PM