Margaret Thatcher’s ‘favourite council’ plans 94% tax rise after government cuts

A London council has confirmed it will raise council taxes by 94 per cent in the wake of an £84 million cut in government funding.

Known as Margaret Thatcher’s “favourite council” for it’s historically low tax rates, Wandsworth Council said it would raise tax on Band D properties by £958, marking an almost 100 per cent hike.

The Conservative-run authority said the rise will go ahead unless the government “rethinks its cuts to funding”, as councillors hit out at “significant financial pressure from government funding reform”, as well as rising costs and increasing demand for services.

It blamed the government’s Fair Funding reforms, which redistributes local government funding grants away from areas in London to other regions, for an £84 million reduction in funding.

The council said this would amount to a loss of 40 per cent of all its spending on parks, libraries, leisure centres, bin collection and street cleaning.

The council’s deputy leader Peter Graham said the authority does “not want to do this”, but said it would be necessary unless the government “thinks again”

“Council tax will need to rise unless government thinks again. And it must think again,” he said.

“We do not want to do this, and we do not take this decision lightly, but the scale of the financial pressure facing Wandsworth means additional income is now needed to protect the services people rely on.

“Residents should not be left to carry the cost of an unfair funding system.”

He added: “Our message to residents is clear: we are on your side, we are making your case, and we will keep fighting for the funding Wandsworth deserves.”

The south London borough council said it will be submitting a proposal under the Sustainable Communities Act, together with Westminster City Council, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

It has also submitted a proposal for the government’s Autumn Budget.

Wandsworth previously had one of the lowest council tax rates in the country, but confirmed the rise from April 2027 in a statement on Tuesday.

The plans, which will be implemented under local government minister Angela Rayner, have shifted funding towards more deprived areas, which the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) calling it a bid to restore “pride and opportunity in left behind places”.

Most councils usually increase council tax bills by the maximum allowed amount of 4.99 per cent for an upper-tier authority with social care responsibilities.

But six councils - Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, Wandsworth, Hammersmith and Fulham, City of London, and Windsor and Maidenhead - have been granted the power by the government to make larger council tax hikes for two years without needing a residents’ referendum.