WANDSWORTH COUNCIL CONFIRMS 94% COUNCIL TAX RISE

Wandsworth Council has confirmed it will raise council tax on Band D properties by £958, a 94 per cent increase, from April 2027. The Conservative-run authority said the rise follows an £84 million cut in government funding for the borough. It said the increase would go ahead unless the government "rethinks its cuts to funding". The council set out the decision in a statement issued on Tuesday. Wandsworth had previously held one of the lowest council tax rates in the country.

The borough has long been known as Margaret Thatcher's "favourite council" for its historically low rates. Council leaders blamed the government's Fair Funding reforms, which redistribute local government grants away from London to other regions, for the £84 million shortfall. They said this amounts to a loss of 40 per cent of total spending on parks, libraries, leisure centres, bin collection and street cleaning. Deputy leader Peter Graham said the council did "not want to do this" but that additional income was needed "to protect the services people rely on", adding that "residents should not be left to carry the cost of an unfair funding system". He said rising costs and increasing demand for services had added to the financial pressure.

Wandsworth is submitting a joint proposal under the Sustainable Communities Act with Westminster City Council, the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and has separately made a submission to the government's Autumn Budget. Reports say Wandsworth's three Labour MPs have declined to back the council's challenge to the funding cuts. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has said the funding changes aim to shift resources towards more deprived areas. The reforms are being implemented under local government minister Angela Rayner.