Andrew Steed Asks What Makes a Good Council?

Liberal Democrat councillor reflects on the difficulties of comparisons

Councillor Andrew Steed planting bulbs in his ward

April 13, 2023

As a Liberal Democrat Councillor representing Southfield Ward is interesting in many ways. Of note is that some residents are able to make comparisons with neighbouring Boroughs, specifically Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) and Hounslow. I can walk to H&F in minutes, Hounslow in ten minutes. All three Boroughs are controlled by Labour administrations and in the case of both Ealing and Hounslow, have been for most of the last forty years.

There are streets where one side is Ealing and the other side is H&F, similarly with Hounslow. Recently a resident made contact comparing Ealing’s recycling policy with what they see on the other side of the road where H&F have a different policy. Ealing collects waste and recycling on alternate weeks, H&F collect both on a weekly basis. My Ealing resident is unhappy and his view was shared by others when we recently did door knocking in the same area. To make matters worse, Ealing’s Council Tax is considerably higher than that in H&F. From the residents point of view he receives an inferior service despite paying more Council Tax.

However, Ealing has one of the higher rates for recycling in London, a figure of 48% puts in far and away better than H&F at 29%. How does one square that statistic with the fact that some residents are unhappy. Is it acceptable to run a service that seemingly performs the task well but from a customer point of view is lacking? Both local authorities now have wheelie-bins which are an eye-sore but would seem to help in achieving higher recycling rates.

Comparing the performance of Councils is tricky. It is almost inevitable that some local authorities perform some tasks better than others. I very seldom hear a good word about Hounslow Council but they won the Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Council of the Year only eighteen months ago. Ealing has a great story to tell about its ‘Outstanding’ schools, but, has admitted it is failing Council tenants when it comes to repairs.

Most residents have little contact with their local authority other than paying their Council Tax. In return they expect some basic tasks to be performed to an adequate standard like rubbish collection and clean streets. When these go wrong or when residents are unable to make contact to resolve problems, is when local Councillors are contacted.

How good is your Council and how does it compare?

Andrew Steed, Liberal Democrat Councillor

Southfield Ward, London Borough of Ealing