Westminster City Council is writing to more than 200,000 residents as part of the "biggest ever engagement exercise" to understand what services matter most amid unprecedented central government funding cuts. With core funding halved from £219 million to £119 million and a total budget gap of £160 million forecast by 2029, the council faces stark choices over services including care for older people and children, street cleaning, bin collections, and libraries. Cabinet Member Paul Fisher says the council will keep pressing government for fairer recognition of Westminster's unique position, including the £2.5 billion it contributes in business rates and the 800,000 people who enter the city daily. Public engagement events begin this weekend.
Warning of major cuts to services
'Stark choices and no easy options' ahead as city blames the government
This article by Tom Foot was originally published in the Westminster Extra and you can read it in full here.
Councillor Paul Fisher, the Cabinet Member for Value for Money and Finance, said:
Over the coming weeks you will hear from the council by letter, email, notice in our public buildings or social media. It's so important that residents and businesses respond. The decisions we have to take next year will have major implications for years to come, including what increase in council tax gets proposed. These UK government funding cuts are unprecedented and present us with stark choices and no easy options.
That's why we need to ask our residents some straight questions, what services do they care most about and would they be prepared to pay more in council tax to offer some protection against service cuts."
We will keep fighting for Westminster residents and pressing the government, but the reality is there is no other option which we do not have to make savings.
More than 200,000 residents live in Westminster, but 800,000 people enter our city every day.
Westminster also provides over £2.5 billion to the national government in business rates.
None of these unique features to the city are recognised in these calculations.
