Hounslow blasted for 'disgraceful' tax delay

Borough last to declare new Council Tax levels in London

Hounslow Council has come under fire for being the last London Borough to set a Council Tax rate. With every other borough having set a level only Hounslow remained. It is thought unlikely that the rise will be beyond the range of other boroughs. The largest rise this year came from the GLA precept set by the Mayor which was up by 5.5%

One Councillor, John Connelly, has complained to the Chief Executive that, with the meeting to set the tax level due on Tuesday March 8th, he had received no briefing papers by the previous Friday. In the event according to Hounslow Council, all Councillors had the relevant papers couriered to them on Friday evening.

He said, "It is disgraceful that elected members are completely in the dark about proposed budget cuts, levels of council tax etc. at this late stage. " Cllr. Connelly questioned whether the delay was deliberate or down to incompetence.

He was formerly leader of the Council and a member of the Labour group but had the whip withdrawn after making complaints about the behaviour of another Councillor.

The Leader of the Council Colin Ellar said that he received the briefing papers at the same time as all the other elected members. He added, "No councillor of any party gets treated any differently from any other councillor. That delivery has allowed 4 days to read the documentation before the meeting takes place. My understanding is that there were some delays in preparing all the necessary documentation and normally they should have been sent out 5 working days before the meeting."

Hounslow Council have previously stated that the budget process would be relatively late because Councillor Ellar addressed each of the local Area Committees individually.

A table of the Band D rates for London Boroughs is given below. Assuming a rise similar to other authorities this year, Hounslow will have the fourth highest rate in the capital.

March 7, 2005