Andy Burnham has been accused of punishing voters after a local authority was forced to hike council tax by 94% following an £84million cut in government funding.
Known as Margaret Thatcher's “favourite council” for its historically low tax rates, Wandsworth Council said it would raise tax on Band D properties by £958. The Conservative-run authority said the rise will go ahead unless the Government “rethinks its cuts to funding”.
Funding reforms blamed
It blamed the Government’s Fair Funding reforms, which redistribute local government funding grants away from areas in London to other regions, for an £84million reduction in funding. The council said this would amount to a 40% loss of all its spending on parks, libraries, leisure centres, bin collections and street cleaning.
Katie Lam, Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, said: "For all his talk of localism, Andy Burnham is forcing higher taxes on people who've voted for exactly the opposite.
“Wandsworth kept council tax low for decades, and instead of rewarding the council, Labour’s funding changes are leaving it £84million a year worse off, with local people forced to pick up the tab.”
Burnham's record attacked
She also lashed out at Mr Burnham's track record on council tax. “This is straight out of Burnham’s playbook. When he was mayor of Greater Manchester, he hiked council tax by a staggering 127%,” she said.
“Labour can dress it up however they like, but their instincts are always the same – spend more and make taxpayers foot the bill, even when they vote for exactly the opposite.”
Labour MP for Putney, Fleur Anderson, said the “shocking” increase will be “very worrying” for families across Wandsworth. “The Conservatives only very narrowly won the election against a Labour council, who would not have brought in this shocking increase,” she said.
Council urged to reverse rise
“The Conservative-run council should listen to residents and reverse this huge council tax increase. Wandsworth families should not be forced to pay the price for the cruel choices this Conservative administration has made.”
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, with 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% 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.
