16 May - How did it go so wrong?
Rather
later than usual the 2024 table of London Council Tax rates has been
completed. The advantage of waiting until May is that it gives the consistently
lazy Councils; Camden, Lambeth, Newham, Southwark etc. time to get their latest
rates on line, but there is not a lot that can be done about those that use the
finest of grey fonts on a light grey background. Fortunately Bexley has never
presented a problem and is notable only for being the biggest financial failure over the past 30 years.
In 1994 Bexley’s Band D tax rate was £340 a year and now it is £2,155. 30 years of
inflation would have taken it to £691. Are services three times better? I think we know the answer.
Excluding the two Councils that went blue in 2022 Bexley retains its position as
the highest taxing (consistently) Conservative borough in London.