A cabinet minister has defended the huge council tax hikes set to hit millions of Londoners next year following Government cuts to town hall funding.
Education Secretary Lucy Powell said local government funding had been “completely decimated” under the previous Tory administration and Labour “can’t put everything right overnight”.
Five London boroughs with “historically low” council tax - Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, City of London, Wandsworth and Hammersmith and Fulham - have been given permission by ministers to up bills by more than 5%, the usual ceiling for increases.
Wandsworth has already braced residents for a 94% rise from April as it, along with the four others, will see its funding significantly slashed from next year and they are expected to put up council tax to bring it more inline with average national levels.
Meanwhile, Bromley council has asked the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to be given the ability to exceed the 5% cap and Lambeth is expected to make the same move as the town halls face plugging huge gaps in their budgets.
Labour’s Fair Funding Review improved finance settlements for some London boroughs, but saw the capital’s overall share for local authorities reduced.
After adjusting for inflation, it will be almost 17% lower in 2028 than in 2010.
London Councils estimates that by 2030, the city’s 33 council’s face a collective shortfall of £5.2 billion.
Responding to the warning, Ms Powell told the Standard: “Local government funding has been completely decimated over the previous 14 years of the Conservative government.
“Really slashed to the absolute core. We gave local government the biggest settlement in a generation just a year or two ago.
“We can't put everything right overnight but we absolutely recognise the value of local government and ensuring that local people have got the services that they want and can rely on and that their area is well looked after.
“Local government is the heart of everything we are trying to deliver as a Labour government, but it will take some time.”
Ms Powell, who was campaigning in Camden with Sagal Abdi-Wali, the Labour candidate in the upcoming Holborn and St Pancras by-election, added that council tax bills “had gone up over recent years” including under the Conservative government.
Asked about the increases set to be experienced by Londoners next April, she said: “We are very, very determined to help people ease the cost of living pressures that they are under, but also that they've got the services that they need locally to rely on.”
