Londoners face paying an extra £20 a year in council tax to the Greater London Authority (GLA) to fund an increased police crackdown on phone theft and more resources for the London Fire Brigade (LFB).
By Kumail Jaffer, Local Democracy Reporter
Londoners face paying an extra £20 a year in council tax to the Greater London Authority (GLA) to fund an increased police crackdown on phone theft and more resources for the London Fire Brigade (LFB).
The Mayor of London plans to increase the policing precept in residents’ council tax bills by £15 a year for an average Band D property, with a further £5.13 going to support the fire service.
The overall GLA precept – the portion of council tax the Mayor is allowed to raise – will increase from £490.38 to £510.51 for an average Band D household. This is equivalent to a 4.1 per cent increase, with the overall sum of money collected by the GLA forecast to be £1.67billion.
Here’s where Londoners will see their money going in the upcoming financial year – subject to change after scrutiny from the London Assembly in the coming weeks. The final budget will be published in March.
Phone theft crackdown
Sir Sadiq Khan plans to ask the Met Police to work on a package of measures to target phone theft gangs on the capital’s streets, including the use of drones and training specialist officers to use e-bikes in hotspot areas.
The extra levy is expected to raise £60m out of an overall £1.22bn funding uplift for policing in 2026-27. Londoners will contribute just over £1bn in council tax for policing in the capital, with the remaining £2.9bn coming from the Home Office.
New London Fire Brigade HQ
Every household will pay an extra £5.13 a year which will go directly to fund improvements to the LFB to the tune of £19.3m.
Officials say that as the UK’s largest fire and rescue service – and one that operates in an “extremely complex environment” – additional investment is needed.
The money will go to “maintaining LFB’s operational capabilities and response times” and investing in LFB’s estate, including building a new headquarters and refurbishing Lambeth Fire Station.
The draft budget shows an extra £16.4m will be spent on “preparedness and response” in addition to £5.9m more being spend on capital financing – money used for major projects such as buildings or equipment. Overall, £251.1m of taxpayer cash will be given to the fire service.
TfL needs £252m bailout
The draft budget suggests almost £252m will be given to Transport for London (TfL) to cover a deficit caused by increased operating costs.
Though passenger income is set to rise by £302mn to £5.91bn, the cost of operating the London Underground, buses and other TfL services will rise by £541m.
Despite a Government grant of £91m, City Hall has deemed the necessary council tax requirement to fill the budget gap as £251.9m.
In other transport news, £400,000 has been set aside to progress the business case for the proposed West London Orbital rail line.
Free Schools Meals to continue – for cheaper than expected
The Mayor has previously said he will not end his policy of Universal Free School Meals for all primary school children in London’s state schools while he is still in office.
This is confirmed by the draft budget, which suggests the Government’s commitment to give free school meals to all children in households on Universal Credit will reduce the funding needed from City Hall.
The draft document says: “It is estimated that there will be a reduction in the academic year cost of the Mayor’s Universal Free School Meals programme compared to previous assumptions of £50.6 million in 2026-27, £59.0 million in 2027-28 and £61.5 million in 2028-29.”
What has Sadiq Khan said?
The Mayor’s Draft Budget covers the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), which includes the Metropolitan Police Service and the Violence Reduction Unit, TfL, the LFB, the London Legacy Development Corporation (Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park), the OPDC, the Oxford Street Development Corporation and the core GLA, including the London Assembly.
Sir Sadiq said: “Bearing down on crime and keeping Londoners safe is my top priority as Mayor. That’s why I’m taking the difficult decision to increase council tax to provide crucial funding for the police.
“This will help to implement a major crackdown on phone theft – with more resources to smash the phone theft gangs – as well as to ensure we can build on the significant progress we’re making to reduce knife crime, gun crime, homicides and burglary in the capital.
“In total, I plan to invest a record-breaking £1.22bn from City Hall on policing so that we can continue building a safer London for everyone.”
Neil Garratt, the Budget spokesperson for the City Hall Conservatives, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “Today’s budget is Sadiq Khan being forced to admit that the Conservatives were completely right about his priorities and spending habits.
“When a phone is stolen in London every six minutes, that it has taken the Mayor more than a year since I first raised the issue of phone thefts with him to actually take action is appalling.
“And with cuts to City Hall mooted, as a result of his bloated, inefficient spending sprees, now Londoners who work for the Mayor are left in jeopardy about their futures because of his behaviour.
“He can keep coming out to tell us how amazing his tenure has been, but the figures in that draft budget reveal the extent to which the Mayor’s legacy needs rose-tinted glasses to look good.”
