People living in an average band D property will pay £113 more from April
Top Waltham Forest councillors have backed plans to raise council tax by 4.99 per cent and borrow £19million from the government amid challenging financial times. The Labour cabinet has signed off the budget for 2026/27, but it will still need approval from full council.
From April 1, council tax will go up for an average band-D property by £113. The £19m loan itself will not be handed to the council as a lump sum but will instead function as a line of credit the authority can draw from as and when it needs.
Councillor Paul Douglas, cabinet member for finance, said it would have been “impossible” to set a balanced budget “without help from the government”. He blamed a “chronic lack of investment” and historic underfunding from Westminster, which “cannot be ignored”. “We must act now before it is too late,” he said.
Presenting the budget to the cabinet, he said the number of people needing temporary accommodation had risen by 80 per cent and the demand on social care had risen by 8 per cent. Council leader Grace Williams said the council would work to “address crises and manage demand” earlier in order to avoid “higher expenditure” later down the line.
Cllr Douglas added it had been an “extremely difficult decision” but was “financially responsible and morally correct,” echoing Cllr Williams’ earlier words.
Resources director Rob Manning said earlier this week the council would not use it “until the very last minute, until we absolutely need that money”. “As soon as we draw it down, it becomes a loan and we have to start paying interest on it,” he told councillors last week.
The move has been criticised by Conservative opposition councillors, with Tory Afzal Akram referring to the bailout as the “taxpayers’ credit card”.
