Southwark residents face council tax hike after budget

By Grainne Cuffe, local democracy reporter

Southwark residents face a 4.99 per cent council tax hike after the budget – including £14.7million in cuts – was approved at council assembly on last Wednesday, February 24.  

The hike, made up of a 1.99 per cent general increase and three per cent adult social care precept, along with an expected GLA increase of £363, means residents in band D properties will pay £87 more.  

The council-tax support scheme, which helps 15,000 working-age households and gives 100 per cent relief to 6,700 eligible pensioners, will remain in place.  

The council estimates that £2.7million of next year’s cuts will affect services, while it is also taking £5million from its around £21million reserves to balance the budget.     

Part of the cuts will include job losses in senior management and elsewhere, as well as closing an adult day centre for good.      

It emerged at the meeting that Southwark has spent £100 million on Covid-19 support so far, while the Government has so far reimbursed the council with £76.4million.  

Cllr Rebecca Lury, cabinet member for finance and resources, told the assembly: “We continue to face additional cost through our direct interventions to support our communities.  

“We’ve seen planned savings delayed or cancelled and we are experiencing significant pressures from lost income through fees and charges. 

“Despite this, national Government has not gone far enough to offer its support.” 

Included in the council’s budget is an injection of £500,000 to go towards tackling food poverty in the borough and £300,000 to go to the Southwark Stands Together project, a borough-wide initiative in response to the killing of George Floyd.  

It aims to tackle the injustice and racism experienced by Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities and the inequalities exposed by Covid-19.  

The council is also putting £4 million into temporary accommodation and £100,000 into the Covid-19 community hub “to ensure the voluntary sector continues to be supported”.   

Speaking on the budget, leader of the Liberal Democrats opposition, Cllr Nick Johnson, described the Labour administration as a “tired and arrogant”. 

He referred to the recent resignation of Cllr Leo Pollak, the former cabinet member for housing who was caught out using an anonymous Twitter account, with which he promoted house building and argued with residents. 

Cllr Pollak apologised again at the council assembly for his “mistake”.  

Cllr Johnson, who referred to the incident as “dismaying”, said: “Without public trust, we are nothing. 

“A key part of earning the public’s trust is demonstrating we are listening and willing to listen to the views of people who disagree with us.” 

A Labour amendment to the budget – putting aside an extra £400,000 to the youth services budget to launch a ‘New Youth Deal’ – was approved.  

The deal aims to promote young people’s mental health and wellbeing, improve access to education, training and jobs, and to create a ‘youth parliament’, with the purpose of informing decisions made by the council from a young person’s perspective.  

Half of the money is set to go into expanding The Nest, a free drop-in mental health service for young people, to schools.  

Cllr Jasmine Ali, deputy leader and cabinet member for children, young people and education, tabled the proposal. 

She said: “It is obvious unless we act fast, young people are likely to suffer severe and long-lasting negative impacts from the crisis.” 

Included in the amendment was a proposal, tabled by cabinet member for council housing Cllr Stephanie Cryan, to reinstate the Southwark Pioneers Fund at a cost of £950,000, “in order to support the borough’s economic renewal post-Covid”. 

The grants aim to support start-ups with new ideas that are focused on “social innovation” and community.  

The Liberal Democrats put forward four amendments urging the council to do more to tackle the climate emergency, provide extra support including free legal advice to residents affected by the cladding scandal, and do more to support EU nationals in the wake of Brexit, including reallocating £2 million from the Brexit Reserve Fund to do so. 

Cllr Humaira Ali put forward an amendment to support residents’ “healthy recovery” as they emerge from the pandemic.  

She asked that the assembly back free outdoor group fitness classes across the borough’s parks and provide grants to Southwark-based charities in order to increase the amount of affordable talking therapies that lower-income residents can access.  

Cllr Ali also suggested offering residents on low incomes a free one-year subscriptions to a meditation app, with a discount for all other residents.   

But Cllr Lury said there was a “lack of imagination” behind the amendments, which were all voted down, and that the Liberal Democrats were suggesting proposals “that cover work we’re already doing”.