Did you know?

Did you know about all the things the council gives you for your council tax?

We provide a number of services that you may not be aware of. For example, in 2009/10 we redesigned Marble Arch, overhauled the pedestrian crossings at Oxford Circus, removed clutter from 400 streets, opened a sports centre at Little Venice, and put a specialist programme in place to help our 50 most disadvantaged families and save the taxpayer money – to name just a few of our recent projects.

Of course, there’s the important everyday stuff too: we’ve cleared 190,000 tonnes of waste, managed the 100,000 cars that park in Westminster daily, and tried to make sure that 50,000 road works were as painless for our residents as possible.

Did you know know about how we've been helping you through the recession?

We’ve tried to support you through the financial crisis as much as we can. Our apprenticeship scheme has already helped 250 people into work, and we’re hoping to increase that number even further this year. We’ve provided funding support to 107 businesses, and started the

Westminster Works scheme to help people fi nd good jobs and get the training they need. In total, we’ve managed to support over 2,350 residents and 1,400 Westminster businesses, and we won’t stop there.

Did you know how the recession has affected the council?

But we have been hit by the financial situation. We’re getting less income from parking, planning, waste collection and the licenses we issue. Our bank account isn’t giving us the same level of interest it used to, while demand for our services is rising as more people need

our help. It’s also likely that we’re going to get less money from central government. But we’ve moved fast to deal with this. Recently, we’ve had to lose over one in ten of our back-offi ce staff posts, and reorganised our services to make them even more responsive.

This reorganisation will save us approximately £12m a year.

Did you know you pay one of the lowest council taxes in the country?

Providing you with the best value for money possible is important to us and we are highly regarded for our financial management.  You still pay one of the lowest council taxes in the country, well below the London average.

Did you know what we're focusing on for 2010-11?

Our two main priorities this year are education and housing.

Recently, we’ve had a commission of some of the best and brightest minds in education look at the performance of our schools. They’ve come up with ten recommendations to make our schools even better, from doing more for disadvantaged children to how to save on maintenance and spend more in the classroom. We’re going to make sure those recommendations happen as quickly as possible.

Our council programme is called ‘Living City’ – and for good reason. We want to make Westminster an even better place to live. Currently, we suffer from huge issues around housing – primarily, need far outstrips what we have. This has a huge effect on people’s lives. Also, the costs of providing temporary housing for thousands of people are extremely high. Because of this, we’ve launched a Housing Renewal Strategy, which aims to build more and better homes, improve local facilities and bring jobs into Westminster.

Did you know where to find out about what we offer?

With your council tax bill, you will have been sent a copy of our A-Z of services guide. You can also find out about all the council’s services online here. 

Did you know that there are a number of ways that you can contact us?

You can call our customer service line on 020 7640 6000. Our customer service centre gets 1.4 million calls per year.

However, it's much cheaper for us to process emails, so if you can get in touch via this website, we can keep your council tax low and provide better services.  Email us at info@westminster.gov.uk or send us a message online here.

Alternatively, you can visit one of our 12 Your One Stop Express self service machines in libraries, community centres and estate offices to get FREE access to online services, and make card payments for things like council tax, business rates or parking permits.

Here are the top ten services our residents want to know about, and how to get in touch with them:

Council Tax : 0845 302 3400

Customer Services: 020 7641 6000

Environmental Action Line : 020 7641 2000

Housing: 020 7641 1000

Libraries: 020 7641 1400

Parking: 020 7823 4567

Planning: 020 7641 2513

Registering to Vote: 020 7641 2730

Registrars: 020 7641 1162

Senior Passport: 020 7641 1444

 Facts and figures

 Did you know...

• ... Westminster residents can get discounts in restaurants, cafes, attractions and leisure and sport services with a MyWestminster ResCard?
• ... if you live in Westminster you and your family can get free bike maintenance and cycle training?
• ... you can hire the latest DVDs and computer games from Westminster libraries?
• ... there are over 20 free sports pitches across Westminster- ideal for a kick around?
• ... most of your household waste can be recycled?
• ... you can arrange a bulky waste collection from the council on 020 7641 2000?
• ... businesses can get up to three commercial waste collections per day?
• ... you can recycle batteries at your library ?
• ... you can find out your collection times online?
• ... there are 56 parks, gardens and open spaces in Westminster?
• ... you could get a grant for hanging baskets on your street?
• ... you can hold events in Westminster parks and gardens?