04 February 2008
Source: LGN (Local Government News is distributed on a monthly basis and provides the latest independent news and information on building, urban space and groundcare. Having joined the HIS stable of local government publications in 2007, Local Government News is designed to keep professional officers in local government abreast of up-to-date legislative changes and interpretations of central government policy )

Council uses YouTube to engage on tax cutting message


Emma Waddingham

A west London council has taken the unique step of not only proposing a 3% council tax cut for a second year in a row - but being the first local authority in Britain to engage residents on its budget using YouTube.

In another measure to keep communication costs down while reaching a far greater audience, Hammersmith & Fulham Council posted the 60 second video highlighting budget measures.

The video features Harry Hammersmith & The Flyovers with a cover version of the Status Quo classic 'Down, Down'. Click here to watch the clip.

Council Leader Stephen Greenhalgh insisted: 'Too many families are being crippled by sky high bills and we want them to come down, down. That's why we posted our tax cutting message on You Tube.

'We want to engage with as many people as possible on our budget plans for 2008/9 - particularly how
you can lower tax bills and improve service.

'Using You Tube is about reaching a new audience, an audience that is traditionally hard to reach. This is yet another example of us thinking innovatively at ways of communicating with residents at next to nothing cost.

'This is an authority that has slashed the communications budget by £600,000. We are the only authority in London to be spending less on communications that we did ten years ago.'

The band only charged expenses while council staff worked in their free time at weekends. This meant the cost of producing the video was just £500 - half the price of a quarter page advertisement in a local newspaper.

The video touts the proposed three per cent tax cut which, if approved at a council meeting at the end of February, will mean that H&F residents have had two three per cent cuts in a row.

At the same time residents satisfaction is rising while Hammersmith & Fulham Council is one of only a small number of local authorities to receive the Audit Commission's  four-star rating for the quality of our services.

'Household budgets are being squeezed from all directions and it is up to policy makers to respond by lowering the tax burden.

This is important for every taxpayer, especially those on fixed or more modest incomes. We are delivering lower tax combined with the improved, quality frontline services that residents demand,' he concludes.

Frank Dixie, from Harry Hammersmith & The Flyovers, added: 'These seem like good efficiencies to me, but the real difference is that Hammersmith & Fulham Council is not just pocketing this money. They are handing it back to the people who matter - the taxpayers.'



Your comments

At last an authority trying to do what it,residents want, lowering council tax, increasing customer satisfaction and acheiving four stars fom the audit commission. Perhaps all authorities should use Fulham & Hammersmith as a benchmark for providing satisfaction to it,s customers. This authority should be congratulated country wide on their acheivements, tajke note all other authorities

Kenny Pine / Contract Surveyor - CDM Co-ordinator Plymouth City Council, Added: Thursday, 7 February 2008 12:50 PM

Great idea, but does rely on people having web access and knowing about the clip on You Tube. But I find it depressing that a local authority is making a virtue of slashing communications budgets. It's like making a virtue of - say - not speaking to your partner as much as you did 10 years ago. And this at a time when people need the complexities of services explained as never before and MORI and the LGA have identified that greater communication spend leads to greater satisfaction with service.

Robert Webb, CIPR Local Governement Group, Added: Tuesday, 5 February 2008 09:39 AM



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