News
Council uses YouTube to engage on tax cutting message
Published: Monday 11th February 2008
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'.
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.'
See the video in full on YouTube and read some of the viewers' comments
Source: LocalGov.co.uk
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