From National Commitment to Local Reality in Hounslow
Chiswick Homefields councillor Gerald McGregor reports back
Cllr Gerald McGregor
November 9, 2025
At Hounslow our first and only opportunity in 2025 to see the outlines of the Local budget and council tax financial forecasts for 2026 will be at the Borough Council meeting in Hounslow on 25 th November. This is the day before the Chancellor’s statement to the House of Commons about the National position and the Budget for 2026/27.
This is unfortunate (rather than sinister) but it means that there will be no up to date information to analyse and digest at the Borough Council. A missed opportunity for Hounslow to grasp the nettle.
More serious is the fact that, unusually, there is no Borough Council meeting scheduled in January to discuss the Local Government Settlement, and hence the terms of the council tax for April 2026. The meeting in February has been put back from 26 th February to 10 th March. This inevitably means a curtailed scrutiny of next years’ finances, and little chance of a debate which no doubt suits the local administration (given the recognised, but often misunderstood, problems in both National and their Local finance)
Local Government Association
This letter was published and sent to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rt. Hon Rachel Reeves on the 1 st November 2025 as a representation of the work and commitment of local councils across England. It was signed off by the Chair and political executive of the Local Government Association.
Dear Chancellor,
Ahead of your Budget on 26 November, we are writing to you to highlight and demonstrate the support and value that councils can provide to you in delivering the objectives of your Budget. Be it building new homes, unlocking economic growth or improving the health and life chances of the most vulnerable in our society, councils are the key to solving our biggest local and national challenges.
From Cumberland to Cambridge and Devon to Darlington, council members and officers are working every day to strengthen and grow their communities. From Bath and North East Somerset Council unlocking the development of 950 homes on a riverside brownfield site, to Folkestone and Hythe Council working to deliver an 8,500 dwelling garden town, councils are crucial to the delivery of new housing and economic growth. Councils are also turbocharging public services through the use of new digital technologies such as Wigan Council's adoption of AI in its care service to equip staff to provide more patient-centred care.
Alongside driving local growth and service innovation, councils work tirelessly to develop local solutions to complex issues that are priorities not only for local communities but also for central government. By tackling challenges such as meeting growing demand for support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), sourcing desperately needed temporary accommodation, or working to develop sustainable asylum accommodation and support systems, councils are at the forefront of efforts to address key national policy issues.
Ultimately, empowered and financially sustainable councils hold the key both to addressing the needs of their local communities and to enabling Government to tackle challenging areas of policy reform. In particular, as locally rooted bodies with a democratic mandate, councils have local legitimacy and are best able to work with residents and across public services to find ways to meet communities’ needs, drive change and improve services.
We recognise and welcome the reset relationship and new way of working between central and local government as clearly demonstrated by the introduction of the Leaders’ Council. This has laid the foundations for closer working between local and central government.
But there is more to do, and we urge you to use your Budget to invest in and support councils to allow them to deliver to their full potential both to support local communities and also to address national priorities.
In the following sections, (see www.local.gov.uk for fuller details of the requests made) we set out how councils can contribute to key national objectives such as supporting children and young people and kick-starting economic growth. We also demonstrate how councils can contribute to the public sector reform agenda set out in the 2025 Spending Review. In each case we set out the actions Government should take to capitalise fully on the sector’s offer. A fuller list of our proposals is set out in our submission to the 2025 Spending Review.
However, while councils have huge potential to support Government in delivering its objectives, we cannot shy away from the scale of the financial challenges the sector currently faces. If councils are to deliver to their full capacity, for both local communities and national objectives, Government must take further action to address the sector’s financial issues. We set out below the scale and nature of the sector’s pressures and the steps that Government should take to address them.
Cllr Kevin Bentley , who is a Senior Vice Chairman, Local Government Association, and Conservative Group leader is one of the signatories, alongside the Chair and other Political group leaders He can be reached via www.local.gov.uk
Local Public Spirit is alive and well
Torin Douglas recently wrote in W4 about “Chiswick steps up poppy sales for the Royal British Legion” after a lull of some years so here is an update on the Local Fundraising and the Poppy Appeal:
The Royal British Legion was asked by local Chiswick resident Elisabeth Whittaker if she could re-instate the public all day collections centred on Turnham Green Station, and providing collections at Weekend Markets, shops and schools and churches across Chiswick.
She, and her dedicated and indefatigable supporters from both Chiswick Boroughs have succeeded superbly with a huge fundraising response from the travelling public, shoppers and church congregations, using the familiar collecting tins and the newer concept of direct mobile card payments to the Legion bank account. The range of badges and poppy insignia has been lapped up and required constant replenishment
The co-operation of so many people has been magnificent and too numerous to single out particular people, but the Underground Staff at the station have been supportive and generous throughout and their organisation has been faultless in terms of security and permissions and the local Garden Centre (Wheelers) have been memorable for their hugely co-operative approach.
Assisting with transport for the collections and getting a flavour of her ambitions to get the “show on the Road” has been invigorating to say the least, and we hope to hear in the very near future how much has been raised.
Thanks to Torin a repeat view of the support that has been with us:
Winter Draws on. NHS and local Care
We are urged to get the flu jab to prevent the impact of any winter illness. Check if you or family members are eligible at :
The NHS has now recommended flu vaccination for several groups:
From 1 September 2025 onwards, expanded from October 1 st:
- pregnant women
- all children aged 2 or 3 years on 31 August 2025
- children with certain long-term health conditions (aged 6 months to less than 18 years)
- primary school aged children (from reception to Year 6)
- secondary school aged children (from Year 7 to Year 11)
- all children in clinical risk groups aged from 6 months to under 18 years
- everyone aged 65 years and over
- individuals aged 18 to under 65 with certain long-term health conditions
- care home residents
- carers in receipt of carer's allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person
- those living with people who are immunocompromised
- frontline health and social care workers
The NHS website contains further information on eligibility , but if you're unsure whether you're able to have a free vaccination you can consult your GP, practice nurse, or pharmacist. If you’re pregnant you can also consult your midwife.
Cllr Gerald McGregor
gerald.mcgregor@hounslow.gov.uk
07866 784821
DEMOCRACY: DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Anyone can attend public meetings of the council. Most meetings take place on the 6th Floor, Hounslow House, 7 Bath Road, TW3 3EB. Hounslow House is fully accessible. The nearest tube is Hounslow Central which does not have step-free access. Parking in local roads is limited.
Principal meetings are broadcast live on the Council’s YouTube channel
11 November: Cabinet at 7pm
25 November: Borough Council at 7.30pm - Including the first call on the Medium Term Financial Report for the Annual Budget 2026/27
Tuesday 3 February 2026 Audit and Governance Committee 7:00 pm
Tuesday 10 March 2026 7:30 pm Budget Setting Meeting for the Annual Budget 2026/27 (moved from 24 February 2026). Including setting the Council Tax for April 2026 onwards
Chiswick Area Forum
- Monday 17 March 2026 6.30 for 7.30pm
Normally at Hogarth Hall, Chiswick Town Hall, Heathfield Terrace, Turnham, W4 4JN, but moveable around Chiswick (please check the website)
Informal Meeting at 6.30pm. Formal Meeting commences at 7.30pm
Both meetings are open from 6.30pm allowing residents to meet officers of Hounslow Council in Adult and Child care Social Welfare, Education, Housing and other Services
(Residents are encouraged to stay on for the main agenda)
Emergencies
You can report emergencies outside office hours by ringing the council on: 020 8583 2222.
CONSERVATIVE COUNCILLOR SURGERIES
Chiswick: Every Saturday from 9.30am to 10.30am at Chiswick Library (the seven Conservative councillors take this surgery in turn).
Gunnersbury: First Saturday of the month from 10am to 11am at The Gunnersbury Triangle Club, Triangle Way, off The Ridgeway, W3 8LU (at least one of the Chiswick Gunnersbury ward councillors takes this surgery).
CONSERVATIVE COUNCILLORS and CONTACTS
Chiswick Gunnersbury ward
Cllr Joanna Biddolph joanna.biddolph@hounslow.gov.uk 07976 703446
Cllr Ron Mushiso ron.mushiso@hounslow.gov.uk 07976 702887
Chiswick Homefields ward
Cllr Jack Emsley jack.emsley@hounslow.gov.uk 07977 396017
Cllr Gerald McGregor gerald.mcgregor@hounslow.gov.uk 07866 784821
Cllr John Todd john.todd@hounslow.gov.uk 07866 784651
Chiswick Riverside ward
Cllr Gabriella Giles gabriella.giles@hounslow.gov.uk 07966 270823
Cllr Peter Thompson peter.thompson@hounslow.gov.uk 07977 395810
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