Council tax in Hackney could rise for first time in a decade

Proposals to increase council tax by two per cent will be debated at a full council meeting in March.

Hackney Council is considering increasing council tax for the first time in more than a decade, to help cover the rising costs of supporting the borough’s older and disabled residents.

The increase would see the a Band D charge rise by less than £20 a year, but would raise about £1.3m, which would help to fund services like home care, meals on wheels, day centres, the Freedom Pass and helping residents to live independent lives for longer.

The proposal follows a government announcement that Hackney will lose a further £38m in funding over the next four years.

Taken together with cost pressures in adult social care and other key front line services, the borough will need to make further savings totalling £58m by 2020.

Hackney will have lost the £138m funding, equating to 50 per cent, from central government since 2010.

Mayor of Hackney, Jules Pipe, said: “We froze council tax for 10 years because we recognise the pressure residents are under as the cost of living rises.

“Throughout this time we have absorbed the costs of increasing service demand, inflation, and managing central government grant cuts totalling £100m so far, but it’s simply not mathematically possible to go on forever making up the shortfall through efficiency measures alone.”