Londoners facing a 'Burnham penalty' on their council tax

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy GREG HEFFER, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT Published: 10:02 BST, 21 August 2026 | Updated: 10:05 BST, 21 August 2026

Londoners face a 'Burnham penalty' on their council tax as local authorities are forced to hike rates due to cuts to central funding, the Tories have claimed.Three Conservative council bosses have written to Andy Burnham accusing the Prime Minister of 'devolving blame' for council tax hikes.The leaders of Westminster, Wandsworth and Kensington & Chelsea councils said they are being forced to significantly increase council tax - or slash services - in order to plug a hole left by cuts to Government funding.It comes after the 'fair funding' review of council allocations resulted in a formula that redirects cash to more deprived areas.Tory-run Wandsworth council is preparing to increase bills by up to 160 per cent, which would be England's biggest-ever council tax rise.It currently has one of the lowest council tax rates in the country with local Tories blaming a 40 per cent cut in Government funding and the spending plans of the council's previous Labour administration for the looming rise.The Conservatives are demanding that Angela Rayner, the Local Government Secretary, urgently review the funding changes that are 'set to worsen the lives of local residents across London and the South East'. James Cleverly, the shadow local government secretary, said Londoners are facing a 'Burnham penalty on their council tax'. Londoners face a 'Burnham penalty' on their council tax as local authorities are forced to hike rates due to cuts to central funding, the Tories have claimed.'The PM talks a lot about devolution,' Sir James added. 'But by slashing funding for councils with lower tax rates, he is forcing them to raise taxes drastically or cut services severely.'True devolution cannot mean imposing higher taxes across the board from on high. Burnham should direct Angela Rayner to urgently review Labour's fiddled funding changes.'Otherwise his commitment to make lives better in every post code will be a dead letter.'Westminster City Council's Paul Swaddle, Wandsworth Council's Robert Morritt and Kensington & Chelsea Council's Elizabeth Campbell said the Government's funding formula 'punishes low tax councils'.The Tory council leaders said: 'If our councils do not impose council tax rises, our communities face considerable cuts in funding for local services.'This is not just devolving blame, it is devolving council tax rises and government cuts.'This is fiddled funding, cooked up in Whitehall but leaving town halls to carry the blame.'These tax rises are in addition to the new top-up council tax on many homes in our councils – and none of the revenues from this tax penalty will be retained by councils or by the Mayor of London. There is nothing local about it.'Six councils have been granted two-year 'funding realignment powers', which enables them to increase council tax beyond the 5% threshold.The three Conservative leaders said their councils were 'singled out' for this, alongside the City of London, Hammersmith & Fulham and Windsor & Maidenhead.They argued that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) 'assumed massive rises in council tax' in their areas to compensate for cuts to central government funding when publishing its Local Government Finance Settlement.'It's clearly not a local decision if the tax rises have already been baked into the finances by the Government,' they said.A Government spokesperson said: 'We're fixing an outdated funding system so funding goes where need is greatest.'For too long, some of the wealthiest parts of the country have benefited from exceptionally high levels of government support while communities facing greater pressures lost out.'Our reforms will make the system fairer for taxpayers across the country, while protecting councils through the transition and ensuring no area faces a cliff edge.'