Camden sets Council Tax rate for 2021/2022
On Wednesday, 24 February, Camden Council’s cabinet agreed a 4.99% increase in Council Tax as part of its response to the unprecedented demands of the Covid-19 pandemic and need for investment in vital local services in key public services.
“We face a huge rebuilding job as we look to recover from the ravages of Covid-19.
“The pandemic has taken a real toll on the physical and mental health of our residents, hit our local economy and exposed and exacerbated many pre-existing inequalities. We will support Camden on the road to recovery through investment to help our residents in need.”
Key investment includes:
- The council will continue to provide Covid related support across Camden to the most vulnerable through a range of support from food parcels and emergency grants to self-isolation support payments and helping to bridge the digital divide.
- Continuing to invest £1.5m a year to develop an integrated employment support package with business and education partners, including funding a Job Hub that works with local services to provide support around employment and money for residents during the Covid crisis and beyond.
- Continuing to invest £270,000 a year in a Safer Camden Network, seeking to address issues of violent crime, safety within our communities, and drug activity.
- Continuing to address homelessness and street activity, by tackling the inequality and multiple disadvantages experienced by homeless individuals and by those sleeping rough. The council will also fund two teams of Community Presence Officers and Specialist Outreach Workers at an annual cost of £0.57m.
- Continuing to invest in the Council’s sustainability team, to ensure that the recommendations of the Citizens Assembly are carried out as part of the council’s ambitious five-year programme of projects and activities that brings to life a vision of a zero carbon borough. Also continued investment as part of the council’s response to the climate crisis in the design and implementation of new traffic schemes including low traffic neighbourhoods.
Councillor Olszewski continued:
“We know it is a fine balance between raising revenue to pay for vital support services and the risk of further adding to households’ day to day financial pressures.
“This is why we are continuing our Council Tax Support Scheme, which will help a fifth of our households who face the greatest hardship - over 23,000 homes. This includes almost 7,000 pensioners, of whom over 5,000 will pay no council tax. We urge anyone who is struggling or worried about their ability to pay to get in touch with us.
“We will also continue to invest £1.5million every year into employment support, helping residents who may have become unemployed due to the pandemic to access education, training and ultimately good, secure work that pays a London Living Wage and allows them to continue to live within their community in Camden.
“Our health system has been pushed to breaking point but shockingly there is still no sustainable long term funding plan from government for social care. We are raising the social care precept to the maximum amount, so we can secure funding to support residents in their recovery from long-Covid and with their mental health. We want to build upon the growing integration between the NHS, care and welfare systems to ensure no-one in Camden is left behind.
“Many long-term challenges also remain alongside Covid-19 and we will continue to invest in initiatives to bring about the fundamental change needed to combat the climate crisis and poor air quality, to end rough sleeping, to keep our young people safe and to help ensure our families have the welfare support they need when times are at their toughest.”
You can read more information on the council’s Council Tax Reduction Scheme online here.
You can read more information on the council tax setting here.