The Residents' Services Select Committee met to discuss a range of issues, including Heathrow Airport's community engagement, the council's parking strategy, town centre regeneration projects, and updates to the Empty Homes Council Tax Premium. The committee reviewed a draft of the Parking Annual Report, and received updates on town centre regeneration in Uxbridge and Hayes.

Draft Parking Annual Report

The committee reviewed the draft Parking Annual Report 2024/2025, which details the council's parking management activities over the past year. The report includes financial and statistical data related to parking enforcement, permits, and paid parking, as well as information on service changes implemented during the year.

The report highlights several parking initiatives from the past year:

• New electric vehicle charging points went live across the borough as part of a partnership with APCOA to deliver a full, accessible EV charging network by 2030.
• Refurbishment works were completed at Blyth Road car park.
• The council trialled the use of a vehicle fitted with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras to clamp down on unauthorised parking.

The report also includes data on penalty charge notices (PCNs) issued, broken down by offence type. | | Bus Lane | CCTV Parking | Moving Traffic | On Street Parking | Off Street Parking | Total | |--------|-------------|-----------------|-------------------|----------------------|-----------------------|---------| | Apr-24 | 4 | 72 | 3,277 | 4,765 | 1,104 | 9,222 | | May-24 | 9 | 113 | 4,588 | 4,812 | 966 | 10,488 | | Jun-24 | 7 | 112 | 4,556 | 4,828 | 1,222 | 10,725 | | Jul-24 | 8 | 100 | 4,285 | 5,189 | 1,251 | 10,833 | | Aug-24 | 3 | 56 | 3,377 | 4,783 | 1,354 | 9,573 | | Sep-24 | 26 | 110 | 3,329 | 4,550 | 1,136 | 9,151 | | Oct-24 | 26 | 116 | 3,145 | 5,028 | 1,257 | 9,572 | | Nov-24 | 23 | 112 | 2,930 | 4,678 | 1,114 | 8,857 | | Dec-24 | 4 | 97 | 2,178 | 4,435 | 967 | 7,681 | | Jan-25 | 3 | 113 | 2,060 | 4,427 | 947 | 7,550 | | Feb-25 | 3 | 75 | 2,173 | 3,856 | 1,038 | 7,145 | | Mar-25 | 15 | 59 | 3,097 | 4,766 | 1,151 | 9,088 | | Total | 131 | 1,135 | 38,995 | 56,117 | 13,507 | 109,885 |

The committee was invited to provide comments on the draft report before it is finalised for approval and publication.

Town Centre Regeneration - Uxbridge and Hayes

Julia Johnson, Director of Planning and Sustainable Growth, provided an update on the regeneration and economic development work in Uxbridge and Hayes town centres. The council has received external funding to support these projects, including £140,000 from the Greater London Authority (GLA) for Uxbridge and £450,000 from central government for Hayes.

Uxbridge

The focus in Uxbridge has been on developing a new town centre vision in partnership with Brunel University and consultants. A draft vision document was published for consultation in February 2025, outlining key issues and themes:

• Economic Resilience: Diversifying the economic offer, repurposing spaces, and better serving residents' needs.
• Serving Local Communities: Enhancing community engagement and providing diverse activities.
• Enhancing the Environment: Improving transport infrastructure, green spaces, and overall town character.

Next steps for the Uxbridge Vision include finalising the vision document based on consultation feedback and utilising UK Shared Prosperity Funding to progress key actions, such as reshaping the St Andrews Roundabout.

Hayes

The work in Hayes Town Centre spans several strategic interventions aimed at revitalising the area. Brunel University was engaged to provide a detailed baseline of community sentiment and needs, while Muf architecture was appointed to develop a design-led approach for key public spaces. Efforts have also been made to activate and promote Hayes town centre through civic events.

Next steps include submitting a further bid to the GLA for grant funding to support the development of the Hayes Regeneration Framework and examining the utilisation of UKSPF grant funding and S106 contributions to deliver improvements to the public realm.

Heathrow Information Report

The committee received a report from Danielle Knafo, Stakeholder Engagement Manager, and Becky Coffin, Communities and Sustainability Director, from Heathrow Airport Ltd, providing an update on various matters related to the airport's impact on the borough. The report covered topics such as employment, skills and training, support for local businesses, transport and connectivity, environmental impact and climate commitments, community investment and engagement, emergency planning and resilience, noise and air quality monitoring, and innovation and research partnerships.

Key highlights from the report include:

• Employment, Skills and Training: In Q1 2025, Heathrow provided 371 experience of workdays and reached 429 young people in Hillingdon. In 2024, 153 job offers were made.
• Support for Local Businesses and Supply Chains: Heathrow relies on a diverse supply chain and works in partnership with the Hillingdon Chamber of Commerce to connect local SMEs with Heathrow suppliers.
• Transport and Connectivity: Heathrow provides funding for service enhancements to a number of bus routes serving Hillingdon.
• Environmental Impact and Climate Commitments: Heathrow has a robust Net Zero Plan and manages 170 hectares of land across 13 biodiversity sites surrounding the airport.
• Community Investment and Engagement: Heathrow's Community Take Off Fund and Heathrow Community Trust provide funding to local charities, schools, and community groups.
• Emergency Planning and Resilience: Heathrow participates in Hillingdon's Local Resilience Forum and has a Travel Care service that provides crisis social care at the airport.
• Noise and Air Quality Monitoring: Heathrow publishes data on noise and operational performance regularly and has a number of resources available for Hillingdon residents to access.

Update on Empty Homes Council Tax Premium

The committee received an update on the Empty Homes Council Tax Premium, following a previous review. Tiffany Boreham presented the report, which outlined proposed next steps to increase the empty property premium to the maximum allowed and introduce a second home premium from 01/04/2026.

From 01/04/2013 billing authorities have been able to charge a premium on a property that has been unoccupied and unfurnished for 2 years or more. Originally the premium was up to an extra 50% and in 2019 this was changed to 100%. Further increases are now possible on properties that are empty for longer than 5 years (200%) and ten years (300%).

As a result of the recommendations made by the Residents' Services Select Committee on 15 December 2022, the further increases were introduced at Hillingdon through a phased approach. The premium was doubled from 50% to 100% from 01/04/23. The 5 years (200%) was introduced on 01/04/24 and lastly the 10 years (300%) was introduced on 01/04/25.

Since the Select Committee Recommendations in 2022 the Government has made further changes to the empty home's premium that can be applied. As of 01/04/2025 a premium can be applied on a property that has been empty and unfurnished after only 1 year. In addition, a second home premium can be charged on a property that is substantially furnished and has no resident.

The council has made a determination to introduce the empty home premium after 1 year and charge a second home premium as of 01/04/26.

There are some exceptions to applying the empty and second home premiums which came into effect on 01/04/25, details can be found in the government guidance.

There are currently 2436 properties in the Borough that are known to the Council Tax department as being empty. Officers are aware that 712 of these are empty and furnished which means that no premium is being applied to these accounts.

Number of premiums applied for 25/26

The total number of accounts with a premium applied is 164; back in October 2022 it was 144. There are 1560 properties where no premium has been applied as they have been empty for less than 2 years.

The total balance outstanding across the 164 accounts is £1,010,341.17 which is an average of £6160.62 owed per account.

Forward Plan and Work Programme

The committee reviewed the Cabinet Forward Plan and Work Programme to plan for future meetings and identify key areas for scrutiny.