Mayor of London proposes council tax increase

The Mayor of London has proposed an increase in council tax, as a response to a lack of government funding for the police, fire and transport services.

The Mayor said that the Met Police is currently with the greatest period of sustained pressure on its resources since the Olympics in 2012, with a large increase in the number of marches, protests and national events taking place in the capital. However, the government has not provided additional funding.

The Mayor is proposing to increase the policing precept part of council tax by £13 per year – the equivalent of £1.08 a month (Band D).

The Mayor’s budget consultation proposes investing £1.056bn of council tax and business rates funding to the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) in 2024-25 - a nearly 80 per cent increase in annual funding compared to the previous Mayor.

The Mayor is also planning for an increase of 2.99 per cent in the non-police precept, allocated in full to the London Fire Brigade. This is the equivalent of 36p a month (Band D).

Council tax is likely to rise by an additional £37.26 a year for an average Band D household – the equivalent of £3.10 a month.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “The last thing I want to do is increase council tax, but against the backdrop of the government’s refusal to provide enough support for London’s essential public services, I have no viable alternative but to use all the levers at my disposal to provide urgent funding from City Hall, particularly for the police.

“The Government has announced that policing in London is set to get just over half the percentage increase in funding compared to the rest of the country. How can this be right when the Met has had to undertake a huge amount of national policing activities over recent months without any additional funding from the government? This is putting an enormous strain on an already stretched police service. That’s why I’m having to step in with additional funding from City Hall to ensure the police in London can bear down on violent crime, continue to reform and make our city safer.

“We are going through a challenging time in London due to the state of the national economy, the impact of austerity and the cost-of-living crisis. But I’m confident that this budget will not only support and improve our public services in our city, but help us to continue building a fairer, greener and safer London for everyone.”