Budget is agreed that will make people's lives better

Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz and Newham Council have agreed a three year Budget to help make residents’ lives better by addressing poverty, keeping young people safe, building much needed homes and tackling the worst levels of air pollution in the country.​

​At the heart of the Budget is the Mayor’s Community Wealth Building vision which will unlock opportunities for residents and address climate emergency through paving the way for the first emissions-based parking scheme in the borough.

The Budget allows for investment growth of £10m each year above what is spent already, for new services or enhancing existing ones in line with the Mayor and administration’s priorities.

Mayor Fiaz said: “This Budget is about transforming this borough so that it works for our people. Through tackling poverty, inequality, and climate change, this Budget is community wealth building in action. It’s also a Budget that continues to invest in our young people, builds homes our people can afford, keeps our streets clean and addresses crime and anti-social behaviour.

“This Budget also helps deal with the impact of toxic air pollution which has caused a public health emergency in Newham and is leading to higher rates of asthma in our children as well as 96 deaths per year. That’s why we’ve proposed to charge for the most polluting vehicles through an emissions based parking policy, but if you own an electric or some hybrid cars, it will remain free.”

As part of the Council’s agenda of good governance and transparency, residents took part in the conversation about the spending priorities and savings challenges through either Budget Forums or an interactive online simulator.

The Budget addresses a £45m funding gap over the next three years, which will be closed by savings totalling £36.2m achieved through improved financial management and smarter working, and additional income of £9.6m from an increase in Council Tax over each of the three years.

A ten year freeze in Council Tax prior to last year’s Budget has meant that the Council has £19m less each year to spend over the next three years. An increase in the Newham element of Council Tax of 3.99 per cent in each of the three financial years has been agreed, of which two per cent is ring-fenced for adult social care.

In 2020/21 this is a weekly increase of 69p for properties in Band C, the Band where most Newham properties are classified. Newham’s level is still expected to be the lowest in outer London. The Council will continue to protect those residents on the lowest incomes who will not be required to pay the full amount of Council Tax.

This is the first time the Council has passed a three-year balanced budget to put itself on a firm financial footing. Councillor Terry Paul, Cabinet member for finance, added: “We are working hard to make our services more efficient in order to respond to the growing needs of our residents. We have felt the impact of Government austerity and reduced funding, but our balanced budget, in addition to tackling air pollution, will build new homes and develop community wealth building, which means we will buy local and keep more money and jobs in our community.”

The Budget includes:

A brighter future for young people:

  • £4.5m growth investment each year in services directly for young people. This includes:
  • £0.75m to implement Youth Safety Board recommendations
  • £1m for safeguarding adolescents at risk from violence and exploitation
  • £1.2m to double the number of youth hubs to eight, including a new flagship arts youth hub at Stratford Circus
  • £0.5m for the Headstart emotional mental health and wellbeing programme for young people
  • £1m to support care leavers, foster carers, young people with special educational needs to travel independently, and the child and adolescent mental health service

Schools:

  • Dedicated Schools Grant of £433m to support schools in providing the best possible educational opportunities
  • £2.2m per year to ensure personalised Education and Health Plans for children with special educational needs and disabilities
  • continued funding of the Eat for Free programme of free school meals for all children to address the inequality of hunger and food poverty

Housing:

  • Newham currently spends around £190m on housing and will increase funding by a further £138m annually. This includes:
  • £1.4m per year to address rough sleeping
  • £0.4m to create a team to repurpose unused properties

Climate and Health Emergency:

  • £1m per year in services to tackle the climate and health emergency
  • moving towards a fairer emissions-based system of car parking charges whereby the least polluting cars would pay less
  • £2m funding to make Council homes more energy efficient 

Cleaner Newham:

  • £0.6m to move to weekly recycling
  • £0.5m to enhance street cleaning services

Safe and liveable streets:

  • £1m to preserve funding for Metropolitan Police officers to focus on environment crime and anti-social behaviour

Published: 09 Mar 2020