South London council slammed as ‘cruel’ for imposing ‘Britain’s biggest-ever council tax hike’

Occupants of Band D properties in Wandsworth are set to pay £958 more a year

Wandsworth Council has been slammed as “cruel” for planning Britain’s “biggest-ever council tax increase”.

The proposed 94 per cent rise, with band D bills set to increase by £958 from £1,020 to £1,978 a year, marks a huge change for Margaret Thatcher’s once-favourite borough. Wandsworth has long been known for its famously low council tax where its core element has been frozen for the past four years.

The council’s new Conservative-led administration announced the shocking planned rise at a meeting on Tuesday (September 15), which was slammed by Labour for being “cruel”.

The Conservatives have repeatedly said since taking control of the council in May that it faces a “financial crisis” due to central funding reforms, along with high levels of planned borrowing and use of reserves under the previous Labour administration.

Conservative councillor Peter Graham, Cabinet Member for Finance, told the meeting the administration had inherited the “largest government cuts, the largest projected overspending and the largest predicted budget gap in Wandsworth’s history” of £215million by 2030.

He said the authority had found annual net savings of £79m by 2030, and planned to stabilise reserves at around £76m, but it was still left with a budget gap of £143m which could only be met by higher council tax at this stage.

He said the administration was challenging government reforms it predicts will see its central funding slashed by £84m a year by 2030.

Councillor Graham said: “Higher council tax will not be easy or welcome. We do not regard it as fair and will continue to challenge the Government by every possible means.”

He added: “This administration committed to being honest and transparent about the council’s finances. It also committed to fixing it. If the Government refuses to act, a duty is placed on us. It is our responsibility to balance the books.”

Councillor Graham said the authority would nearly double support in the council tax reduction scheme next year and expand its eligibility to include income bands that fall just outside the current criteria. It will consult on the details of the proposed changes in the coming weeks.

The hike comes in addition to cuts already made by the Conservatives, including shutting Wandsworth’s cost-of-living reserve with £6.2m of unspent funds and cancelling the ringfencing of funds allocated to Labour’s Access for All and Borough of Sanctuary schemes.

Councillor Graham laid out further changes at the meeting, including the continued suspension of grants to charities through the Wandsworth Grant Fund and the reintroduction of charges for bulky waste collections.

Labour Opposition Leader Simon Hogg accused the administration of hiding its intention to nearly double council tax by failing to include this in its manifesto for the local elections in May. He said residents now faced “Britain’s biggest-ever council tax increase” and “much worse services for much higher cost”.

Councillor Hogg said: “This increase is unfair, it’s unnecessary and we oppose it, and as soon as we can Labour will scrap it. This is your choice, it’s your decision, and you need to own it. This is a cruel and selfish and very political decision, and you’re seeking to blame everyone but yourselves.”

Councillor Hogg said Labour would have stuck to its manifesto pledge of not increasing council tax above five per cent a year and closed the budget gap while protecting frontline services, largely through budget reductions totalling £45m without service cuts – including by modernising how the council operates.

He said Labour would have used reserves to “smooth the journey” while streamlining services over three years “to be a more effective digital council”.

Councillor Hogg said: “The Tory plan is to cover this loss with massive immediate tax increases… we would do pretty much the opposite. We would take several years to adjust the council to its new funding without hitting local people with large tax increases.”

Councillor Graham added: “We are not doing this from cruelty. We are doing things that we do not wish to do because we have to try to close the gap and limit that council tax increase.”

Wandsworth Labour has launched a petition opposing the hike. More details of the proposed council tax bills according to each band will be announced in due course.

A final decision on the changes will not be made until the council’s budget meeting early next year.

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