Tories consider legal challenge over cut behind Wandsworth’s 94% council tax plan

The Conservative Party has asked lawyers to examine whether an £84m-a-year cut in government funding to Wandsworth Council can be blocked, party leader Kemi Badenoch has said. The Tory-run borough in south-west London has proposed a 94% council tax rise.

Wandsworth Council blames the funding cut for the increase. The plan was announced at a council meeting on Tuesday and has faced heavy criticism since. A final decision is expected early next year.

How much Wandsworth council tax could rise

For many years, council tax in Wandsworth has been kept far below the level paid in most of the country. An average Band D home pays just over £1,000 at the moment. In a growing number of London boroughs the figure is above £2,000.

The planned rise is £958, which would come close to doubling the Wandsworth bill. The council and the mayor of London would each account for half of that increase.

Badenoch described the plan as “outrageous” but said the council was not raising bills out of choice. She said the government had taken away 40% of its funding. She accused ministers of appearing to shift money from areas that do not vote Labour to areas that do. She also said a jump of close to 100% would worry families, even if Wandsworth’s bills stayed lower than those in many other places.

Why council funding in London is changing

The government says the “outdated” council funding system has to be reformed so money reaches the areas that need it most. The Fair Funding Review 2.0 will move cash from some council areas to others.

Wandsworth is one of five London councils given extra room on bills after the government cut their share of central funding. The others are Westminster, the City of London, Kensington and Chelsea, and Hammersmith and Fulham. For a two-year period they may go beyond the normal 5% limit on council tax increases. Windsor and Maidenhead Council in Berkshire received the same power.

Wandsworth may not be alone in fighting the cuts. It has already turned to the Sustainable Communities Act, and Westminster is considering joining it in using the same law. Kensington and Chelsea is weighing up that step too, as is Hammersmith and Fulham.