RESIDENTS struggling to balance their books could take a lesson from Richmond upon Thames Council’s ‘Good Housekeeping’ approach.

The council claims it has come in within budget across all departments for the first time in many years. In fact, the council has managed to underspend by over £6 million.

Cllr Nicholas True, Deputy Leader of the Council and cabinet member for strategy and finance, said: "The majority of this money is earmarked to spend in areas that deserve investment. These include libraries, leisure centres such as Teddington Pool and children’s playgrounds. We are formulating a ten-year strategy for improving the borough’s highways, where basic upkeep requires extra funding."

He remains cautious however, warning: "This year we still have the highest council tax in London, even though we kept Richmond’s percentage rise below the London average."

Richmond also receives the lowest local grant of any London local authority, however this amount is actually higher than the amount the government’s formula calculates the borough should receive. The council is currently protected by a ‘floor’ (a minimum year on year increase in the grant settlement).

The council requires strong financial reserves as the government can remove the floor at any time.

Cllr True said: "The government has indicated it will operate a floor for Richmond next year but has given us no idea where it will be.

“We are therefore at their mercy. That is why we need to plan prudently and lobby hard to win a fairer deal for the people of this borough."

He said decent reserves are needed to provide a safety net against unforeseen costs.

Mark Maitland, the borough’s Director of Finance, added: "We are not complacent. We have to make sure this isn’t a one-off."

The council is investing a lot in updating its obselete accounting computer system, which is 30 years old. He said improving the council’s back room procedures would make a real difference to delivering front line services.

Cllr True put in: "If we know what our budgets are, we can plan services effectively. A few years ago, a black hole of £4fi million appeared in social services, which meant emergency cuts all over."

l Meanwhile a new drive to boost access to council services has been agreed by Richmond Council’s cabinet.

At its meeting on Tuesday, the cabinet agreed to major moves set to revolutionise customer care, with a new project called Customer First.

Under the council’s Community Plan agreed in April, a series of targets were set, designed to make council services more accessible to local residents.

These included setting up a contact centre facility to allow a quicker response to enquiries and delivering more services electronically to those members of the public able to use them.

The overall aim is make council services more accessible in terms of timing and location, ensuring that they meet the public’s needs. The council wants members of the public to be able to find answers to enquiries from a single point wherever possible, instead of being passed from one department to another as in the past.

A recommendation which went before the Cabinet on Tuesday sought agreement to the development of a Customer Care Service Centre pilot at the Sheen Lane centre, East Sheen.

The proposals form part of a wider refurbishment of the Sheen Lane Centre which the council is refurbishing in partnership with local resident groups.

The proposed Customer Centre will enable residents to access a range of different services and information in a single visit. The council’s Deputy Leader Councillor Nicholas True said: "These ideas, will accelerate our drive to provide a better service for the public."

"The customer care initiative is all about providing our local residents with good, reliable services. We are delighted with the progress made in the last year, as demonstrated by the unprecedented five Charter Marks we won this spring.” "However there is still much work to do in our efforts to provide efficient customer care and accessible services. That’s what Customer First intends to achieve."

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