Budget passed to ensure “Camden will be there to support residents”
Camden councillors have agreed a budget to invest in local services and fill the gaps left by withdrawal of government funding.
The council’s annual budget meeting today (4 March) agreed to raise Council Tax by 4.99% for 2024-2025, to help balance the budget and provide funds for vital public services.
The rise enables the Council to continue to invest in its full range of services and make some specific new investments for 2024-2025, which include:
- Investing an additional £20million in social care, health and children’s learning.
- Spending an additional £1.04million on street cleaning, particularly aimed at addressing littering and to tidy up commercial areas – meaning a total of £26 million will be spent on rubbish and recycling collections and keeping the streets clean.
- Renewing the £2million Cost of Living Fund and putting £2.1million into a Family Crisis Fund to help struggling residents in Camden, which will fund projects including school breakfast clubs and food vouchers in school holidays.
The Council Tax rise enables the council to deliver a balanced budget for 2024-2025 at a time of funding crisis for local authorities. Camden has had to cut around £230million from its budgets since 2010 due to a reduction in central Government funding, while demand for support for services such as adult social care and homelessness intervention has grown.
The proposed rise is made up of a rise of 2.99% in core council tax level to support council funding generally and a 2% rise from levying the Adult Social Care Precept to support the Council to respond to the pressures facing adult social care. This means that the increase in the Council’s element of the Council Tax for a Band D property is £73.15 for the year, or £1.41 per week.
The cost of living crisis continues and Camden’s support for our residents continues. While the government is deserting its responsibilities to help those in need, Camden will continue to provide as much support as it can.
We are using own resources to cover for government funding gaps to support our residents facing the most severe need.
Up and down the country, we’re seeing councils in dire financial straits – local authorities who are unable to provide the services their residents need. That is a real indictment of the severe funding cuts local government has experienced since 2010.
In Camden, we will be able to deliver a balanced budget. There are challenges – we still have to identify £10million of savings by 2027, inflation remains a concern and we continue to be underfunded by Government – but our track record of prudent financial management stands us in good stead. By putting up Council Tax, we can say with confidence that Camden will be there to support residents when they need it.
We want residents to see their money is being spent wisely and put to good use – and our additional investments for next year are in areas we know matter to them. Millions into social care to ensure your family can access the best care possible, if they need it. Over a £1million into keeping Camden’s streets clean and tidy. And a renewal of our £2milllion Cost of Living Crisis Fund – which has been a lifeline to thousands Camden residents since we introduced it.
Supporting Camden residents in the greatest need
The renewal of the Cost of Living Crisis Fund follows the vital role it placed in supporting Camden’s communities in 2023-2024. Camden Council accepted 8,533 referrals for emergency cost of living support in 2023 and paid out a total of £2.2million to help residents in urgent financial need.
Camden Council has put supporting its residents in need at the heart of its 2024/2025 budget through the following interventions:
- Camden is stepping in to provide an alternative to the Household Support Fund which the Government will stop funding in March 2024. The Household Support Fund enabled Camden to help around 16,500 children and more than 8,000 households, through direct financial awards and food supermarket vouchers during the school holidays. To mitigate the loss of this fund, Camden Council is increasing investment in its Family Crisis Fund to £2.1million. The fund’s focus is to ensure Camden children have access to nutritious, affordable and sustainable food.
- Camden will invest in the voluntary sector and its schools to deliver our Food Mission, which aims to ensure that people in Camden have access to nutritious, affordable and sustainable food. This includes providing residents at food banks with help to manage their budgeting for food and signposting to other financial support across the borough and supporting residents to develop and expand food coop models.
- Camden will spend £31million to renew its Council Tax Support Scheme for 2024/2025, one of the most generous in the country. More than 22,000 Camden residents who can least afford to pay Council Tax will receive either full or partial Council Tax support - and of those, around 16,000 Camden households in the greatest need will not pay any Council Tax at all.
Councillor Richard Olszewski added: “We are continuing our Council Tax Support scheme, which is one of the most generous schemes in the country. This means more than 22,000 Camden residents who can least afford to pay Council Tax will receive either full or partial Council Tax support - and of those, around 16,000 Camden households in the greatest need will not pay any Council Tax at all.”
Further key spending commitments for 2024-2025
Camden’s Council Tax for 2024-2025 will help fund a range of key services, with further investments including:
- £69.5million for early years support - a key part of why Camden’s Children’s Services are rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted.
- £23million to prevent homelessness and to support people who have become homeless to regain a full-time home.
- £17million to improve roads and paths, increase walking and cycling, and make streets and transport networks safe, accessible and inclusive for all.
- £14.4million for early intervention support for children, young people, families and older residents.£6.7million on Camden’s 76 parks and 300 green spaces.
- £4million on the local voluntary and community sector - this helps to fund advice with issues including food, debt and loneliness, ‘warm welcome’ spaces, and free events and activities.
- £4million on protecting and promoting the health and wellbeing of all Camden residents.
- £3.4million on Camden’s nine libraries, providing free books, computers, internet access, events and activities.
- £2.1million to address food poverty, including £1million to provide food holiday vouchers, £700k on food projects and community kitchens, £300k on school breakfast clubs, and £100k on a snack food fund for Camden secondary schools.
- £1.59million to support Camden residents into local jobs.