Council tax may be raised to fund police & fire services
Average council tax bills may be raised by nearly £19 per year to help cover the cost for the capital’s police and fire services, the mayor has revealed. In a draft budget proposal, Sir Sadiq Khan has proposed a rise in his share of council tax to £490 for the average household in Band D. This would be a rise of 4%.
The amount would not be enough to cover the budget shortfall of the police. In December 2024, Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said that the force would need an additional £450 million. The following week, the government announced an additional £65 million extra would be provided.
“The last thing I want to do is increase council tax at a time when many household budgets are stretched,” the Mayor said. “But keeping Londoners safe is my top priority as mayor and I’ll always do everything I can to ensure the Met Police and the London Fire Brigade have the funding they need.”
The increase is expected to generate an additional £54 million for the police budget in 2025-26, according to a spokesperson from City Hall.
While this increase applies to all of London, each of the capital’s 32 borough councils have yet to reveal how much their own share of council tax would be.
The mayor has also announced that $147.5 million of the funding would be put aside to cover his promise of free school meals for all of London’s state schools. The final budget is to be confirmed on the 25th of February after debates from the London Assembly.
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