Tri-borough councils seek to make savings through 'Council Budgets'

The tri-borough area of Westminster, Hammersmith & Fulham and Kensington and Chelsea has been chosen as one of 14 pilot areas to trial 'Community Budgets' to share services and pool funding.

The plans are intended to "slash financial red tape and duplication" and "save taxpayers' millions" by allowing the three councils to explore ways of making better use of money between the town hall, Whitehall and the Greater London Authority. 

In an RBKC press release the council has stated that "the plan will also involve harnessing the passion of the voluntary sector and unlocking the vast potential of businesses to promote growth, reward ambition and reduce dependency."

A `Tri-Government Guarantee', sets out targets the councils have agreed. These include making sure every young person under 25 has a job or is in training or education; 80 per cert of children across the three boroughs achieve five A*-C grade GCSEs and access to high-quality affordable housing.

Services will be radically redesigned and aligning funding in a number of key areas over the next 12 months.

The key service areas will include: skills and training for over 16s, education, worklessness, speeding up family court proceedings, youth violence and anti-social behaviour.

RBKC Council leader, Cllr Sir Merrick Cockell, said "The Royal Borough has set the benchmark for successful budgeting and innovative service delivery for many years. Extending that success across a wider area of public spending has to be a good thing - both for local communities and for the taxpayer."

Read the full RBKC press release

Read the Department for Communities and Local Government press release