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News and Comment April 2021

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13 April (Part 2) - London Council Tax rates

I had not expected the Council Tax League Table positions to be any different this year to last but I was wrong. Some Councils levy rates only pennies apart from their fiscal neighbours which means that the most minor of roundings within their internal calculations can cause a change but nothing has shifted Bexley from its lowly position with 24 boroughs in London levying lower taxes.

Fortunately it is among the majority of Councils which make the new Tax Rates easily accessible on their websites and the annual chore is much easier than it used to be. Maybe that is because I no longer attempt to dig out the figures before the new financial year commences.

Only Islington and Camden have not updated their figures for 2021/22 although in the case of Islington I found their figures well away from the front page link which still goes to 2020/21. Camden as in previous years simply hasn’t got the latest figures on their website. The figures used here come from a local estate agent and must be checked when Camden Council wakes up.

There does appear to be widespread carelessness or incompetence on display. Some Council’s list this year’s figures alongside 2020/21’s but the change is nothing like being in the expected 6% range and a search of their sites for last year's figures confirm that something has gone wrong. The old figures shown are either from 2019 or just hopelessly wrong.

Fortunately Bexley is entirely free of these criticisms, it is just far too expensive but at least Council Tax has not tipped over the £4,000 a year threshold as it has in Kingston-upon-Thames. I suspect Kingston is Conservative controlled but their website does not provide a list of Councillors’ names, only an ‘enter your postcode and reveal one name’ system. Utterly useless.

 

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