Wandsworth Council has announced a 94% increase in council tax for Band D residents after local leaders hit out at the government for cutting funding by £84m a year, with taxpayers set to pay £958 more from next year.
Wandsworth Council has declared a whopping 94% tax increase for Band D residents, following local leaders’ criticism of the government for slashing funding by £84m annually. The council, often referred to as Margaret Thatcher’s favourite due to its historically low council tax rates, will require Band D taxpayers to cough up an additional £958 from next year.
Local leaders have stated that they’ve already made savings of £529 per Band D taxpayer in an attempt to bridge a funding gap.
The Conservative-led council claims it had to address a spending shortfall of approximately £1,434 for average households in the area. Over a third of this total is attributed to government funding cuts, with the remainder stemming from inflation and legacy plans from the previous Labour administration.
A Tory insider within the council stated that the authority was faced with a stark choice: “either balance the books through tax rises or face bankruptcy”, as reported by City AM.
Deputy leader of Wandsworth, Peter Graham, expressed that council members “do not want this” and “do not take this decision lightly”.
“Residents should not be left to carry the cost of an unfair funding system,” Graham asserted. “That is why we are fighting hard at the heart of Government for a fairer deal for Wandsworth, and why we have made a clear case ahead of the Autumn Budget that our borough should not be punished for running efficient services and keeping council tax low.”
Labour MPs in the region, including Marsha De Cordova, Rosena Allin-Khan, and Fleur Anderson, have fired back at the council, informing authority leaders that they would not back Wandsworth’s plea for additional funding.
In a letter, the MPs stated they could not “support a narrative that seeks to rewrite the recent financial history of Wandsworth Council or shift responsibility for damaging choices that are being made by the current Conservative administration”, as reported by Politicshome.
They contended that the council had already been “carefully managed” under the previous Labour administration.