Hillingdon Council plans to remove the £39 rate that over-65s pay for bulky waste collections, so an over-65 with up to three items would pay £53, and one with four to six items £70.
It also plans to put library overdue fines up by two-thirds, as part of a proposal to raise most fees and charges by about 15% from January. The £39 rate appears in the Council’s schedule of charges as a single word: “removed”. The main text of the report doesn’t mention it.
The decision is being made by Cabinet, the seven senior councillors who run the Council, led by Cllr Steve Tuckwell, supported by Ruislip Manor’s Councillor Susan O’Brien on Thursday 22nd October. The Council’s report proposes no consultation, and the equalities impact assessment box isn’t ticked. The biggest change in the same report, to parking, is the subject of our other article.
Over-65s would lose the £39 rate for bulky waste collections, and pay up to 79% more
Hillingdon charges residents £53 to collect up to six bulky items, which the Council calls “special collections”. Residents over 65 pay £39. In the schedule at the back of the report, the proposed charge for the over-65s rate is a single word: “removed”.
| Special collections | Now | Proposed |
| 1 to 3 items | £53 | £53 (no change) |
| 4 to 6 items | £53 | £70 (+32%) |
| Fridge or freezer | £53 | £60.95 (+15%) |
| Landlords, up to 6 items | £94 | £108.10 (+15%) |
| Over-65s, up to 6 items | £39 | “removed” |
An over-65 with up to three items would pay £53 instead of £39 (+36%). With four to six items they would pay £70 (+79%). The main text of the report mentions a higher charge for four to six items, but not that the over-65s rate is going. You’d only find that in the schedule.
Age is one of the protected characteristics the report itself lists. The same report says the Council “believes” its proposals don’t adversely affect any of them, but the equalities impact assessment box isn’t ticked and no assessment is attached.
Other rates for older people rise with everything else. The Bunker’s over-65 admission goes from £3.20 to £3.70, and the adult education concession for over-65s from £3.30 to £3.80. TeleCareLine charges rise 15%, with over-75s staying exempt.
We’d like to know how many over-65s used the £39 rate last year, what removing it raises, whether the Council looked at the effect on older residents before putting it in the schedule, and whether any help will replace it.
Library overdue fines up by two-thirds for adults, and by half for 12 to 17-year-olds
Overdue fines for books, talking books and CDs go from 30p to 50p for adult residents (+67%) and from 35p to 70p for non-residents (+100%). For 12 to 17-year-olds they go from 10p to 15p for residents (+50%), and to 25p for non-residents (+150%). CD and talking book loans, lost tickets, printing and room hire rise by about 15% to 17%.
Uxbridge Library at the Civic Centre can be accessed via a steep path. Inside, new steep price rises.
The report explains why parks and open spaces rise by more than 15%: it says they were benchmarked against neighbouring authorities. It says nothing about libraries, so there is no explanation for fines rising by far more than the headline 15%.
Open - Library charges, now and proposed
Library charges (resident rates unless stated)
| Charge | Now | Proposed |
| Overdue fine, adults | 30p | 50p (+67%) |
| Overdue fine, ages 12–17 | 10p | 15p (+50%) |
| Overdue fine, adult non-residents | 35p | 70p (+100%) |
| Overdue fine, 12–17 non-residents | 10p | 25p (+150%) |
| CD loan, 3 weeks | £1.80 | £2.10 (+17%) |
| Talking book loan, 3 weeks | £3.50 | £4.10 (+17%) |
| Lost ticket | £3.50 | £4.10 (+17%) |
| Colour A4 print (PC) | 65p | 75p (+15%) |
| Colour A4 photocopy | £1.75 | £2.00 (+14%) |
| Small room per hour, non-commercial or charity | £13.20 | £15.20 (+15%) |
| Family history census search, one address | £6.05 | £7.00 (+16%) |
The new library in the Civic Centre in Uxbridge ‘town centre’
Leisure centres up 4% from December, but leisure centre car parks rise by 3% to 8%
Leisure centre prices rise by 4% from 1st December, the most the Council’s contract with its leisure provider, GLL, allows. GLL is asking for it. An adult peak swim goes from £5.55 to £5.77, and a peak gym session from £9.60 to £9.98.
Leisure centre car parks are also tied to the GLL contract. Residents’ prices there rise by about 3% to 8%, against about 70% in the Council’s own car parks. That shows how much of the parking rise is the Council’s choice.
Garden waste down 10%, but only if Cabinet approves wheeliebins
The annual garden waste charge goes from £77 to £69, a cut of 10%. That is the price per bin in the Council’s proposal to swap garden waste sacks for wheeliebins, which is item 5 on the same Cabinet agenda.
Pitches, tennis courts and venues
Parks and open spaces are where the biggest rises are, after parking. The report says they’ve been “benchmarked against neighbouring authorities” and increased by more than 15% “where Hillingdon prices are considerably lower”. We haven’t seen that benchmarking yet – though we have requested a copy of the external report referenced in the Council’s own report.
For residents, a senior football pitch goes from £33.80 to £45.00 (+33%), Gaelic football from £23.60 to £45.00 (+91%), and a tennis court from £5.50 an hour to £10.00 (+82%). Non-residents pay more: £48.00 for the senior football pitch, and £12.00 an hour for tennis. The Scout camp site in Mad Bess Wood goes from £73 a night to £84.
Hire of Manor Farm’s rooms and the Winston Churchill Theatre rises by about 15%, but community rates (used by Ruislip Residents’ Association for our public meetings)– for the Great Barn, and wedding packages at Manor Farm, are frozen.
Open - Parks, pitches and tennis courts, now and proposed
Parks and open spaces (resident rates)
| Charge | Now | Proposed |
| Senior football pitch (11-a-side) | £33.80 | £45.00 (+33%) |
| Junior football pitch (11-a-side) | £25.10 | £30.00 (+20%) |
| Rugby pitch | £33.80 | £45.00 (+33%) |
| Gaelic football pitch | £23.60 | £45.00 (+91%) |
| Tennis court, per hour | £5.50 | £10.00 (+82%) |
| Mad Bess Wood camp site, per night | £73 | £84 (+15%) |
| Bowls green fee, adult, per hour | £8.40 | £9.70 (+15%) |
| Artificial cricket pitch hire | New | £30.00 |
Non-residents: senior football £33.80 to £48.00 (+42%), Gaelic football £23.60 to £48.00 (+103%), tennis £5.50 to £12.00 an hour (+118%).
Most other fees up about 15%, and some left alone
Most other charges rise by about 15%, which the Council’s consultants, Lyon Local Government, say is where Hillingdon’s prices should be – after finding many in the “lowest quartile” for London boroughs. That includes licensing, highways and planning fees, room hire, garages, the music service, adult social care charges, and the cost of reclaiming a stray dog (kennelling goes from £138 to £159). Post-16 school transport, where parents contribute for Council-arranged transport, goes from £640 to £736.
A few things aren’t rising. The report freezes filming because it is “a very competitive market”. Wedding packages and registrar ceremonies are frozen.
Open - What isn't going up
Fees that stay the same
- Special collections of 1 to 3 items (£53)
- The Imported Food Unit (it already recovers its costs)
- Filming and street filming (“a very competitive market”)
- Registrar ceremonies and webcasting
- Wedding hire at Eastcote House Stables and Walled Garden, Manor Farm celebrations, and the Battle of Britain Bunker (one non-resident Bunker rate does rise 15%)
- Great Barn community hire, and some other theatre community rates
- Advertising in Hillingdon People
- Carers’ parking permits (free) and the over-75s TeleCareLine exemption
Golf courses aren’t in the schedule, because they’re being sold or leased out.
Hillingdon Council’s Priorities for 2026-2030
Judged against the Council’s own priorities
The report says the fees fit two of the Cabinet’s six priorities, and marks the other four “N/A”. Cabinet adopted the priorities last month.
- “Putting our residents first.” The report says resident discounts and benefits “will be maintained where applicable”. The same priority promises “protecting vulnerable residents” and “listening to your views to shape what we do”. The over-65s rate is removed, and nobody is being asked what their views are – these are changes without consultation.
- “Future generations” is marked N/A, yet it promises “modern libraries, leisure facilities and youth opportunities that support learning, wellbeing and aspiration”. Library fines for 12 to 17-year-olds rise by 50% for residents and 150% for non-residents, leisure centres by 4%, individual music tuition from £256.35 to £294.80 a term, and the parental contribution for post-16 transport from £640 to £736.
The money, in RAGCs
At the RRA we measure council savings in RAGCs. One RAGC is £150,000, named after the Rural Activities Garden Centre the Council closed last year. The report says the fee increases could raise £3.3 million a year, about 22 RAGCs, towards a budget gap it puts at £50 million. CIPFA, the public finance body that reviewed the Council for the government, put the underlying gap for 2027-28 at £48.3 million, which is 322 RAGCs. The government has also issued a formal warning, a Best Value Notice, citing a lack of “organisational grip”. The report doesn’t say what removing the over-65s’ £39 rate, or raising library fines, brings in.
CIPFA also found that Hillingdon’s income from fees and charges was about £15.5 million below the outer London average, because they hadn’t been increased in line with other boroughs. So the Council has a good case for raising them. The question is which rises go beyond 15%, and why.
The Council chose not to publish the Lyon report where the fees and charges had been benchmarked, so we have asked for a copy of it: we will report back if/when we receive it.
For scale, Hillingdon didn’t raise council tax at all for ten years, from 2009-10 to 2018-19. That was a choice made by Sir Ray Puddifoot and his Conservative administration, and supported at the time by some of those still in the administration today. CIPFA says the freeze is largely why Hillingdon’s Band D tax is now £234 below the outer London average, and bringing it back up to that average would raise around £26.6 million a year, about 177 RAGCs. A year of these fee rises is about an eighth of that.
We read the report – but what we still don’t know…
- The over-65s rate. The main text doesn’t mention that it’s going. There are no figures on how many people use it, or what removing it raises.
- Why library fines rise so much. Libraries aren’t among the report’s listed exceptions to the 15%, and no reason is given for +67% to +150%.
- The benchmarking. The report cites it for parks and open spaces, and says charges “remain competitive”. The only background paper is the Lyon Local Government review, which we haven’t seen. At the time of writing, we’re waiting for it: we have requested a copy.
- Equalities. The assessment box isn’t ticked, and the report says only that the Council “believes” the proposals don’t adversely affect any protected characteristic. That is in a schedule that removes a concession for over-65s, and age is one of the characteristics it lists. Beyond belief, or not a surprise?
- A breakdown. The £3.3 million isn’t split by service, so there’s no way to see what each change raises.
What happens next
Cabinet meets at 7pm on Thursday 22nd October at the Civic Centre in Uxbridge. You can read the report and watch the meeting live on YouTube here, or watch the recording afterwards. You can also attend in person, with ID and security checks, but you can’t speak, and there are no public questions. Email is the way to be heard, so write to the Cabinet members before then, and tell them if one of them is your ward councillor:
- Cllr Steve Tuckwell, South Ruislip (Leader of the Council)
- Cllr Richard Mills, South Ruislip (Deputy Leader; Delightful Yuzu; Corporate Services, Digital & Transformation)
- Cllr Eddie Lavery, Ickenham & South Harefield (Finance; leads on this report)
- Cllr Wayne Bridges, Hillingdon East (Residents Services)
- Cllr Adam Bennett, Hillingdon West (Community, Environment & Enforcement)
- Cllr Susan O’Brien, Ruislip Manor (Adults, Children, Health & Care)
- Cllr Nick Denys, Eastcote (Planning, Housing & Property)
Cabinet’s decisions are published the day after the meeting, usually on the Friday. The Audit, Finance & Performance Select Committee then has five working days to call one in, which would mean by 5pm on Friday 30th October. A call-in needs a majority of the committee, so three of its five councillor members:
- Cllr Ekta Gohil, Northwood
- Cllr Jonathan Bianco, Northwood Hills
- Cllr Daniel Singham, Eastcote
- Cllr Peter Smallwood, Ruislip
- Cllr Tony Eginton, Pinkwell
Cllr Smallwood is the only Ruislip councillor on the committee, so he is the obvious first contact for Ruislip residents. If you want to ask the committee to call it in, write to its members as well as to Cabinet.
If you’re over 65 and use the bulky waste collection service, or you use the library, we’d like to hear from you and we’ll share in a future update what we receive. If you email the Cabinet members or the committee, please copy us in: secretary2@ruislipresidents.org.uk.
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