Cllr Paul Swaddle OBE, Conservative Leader of Westminster City Council, has been through Labour Chancellor John Healey’s Budget of Wednesday 28 October line by line. He sets out what it means for residents and businesses in Westminster, and why it leaves the city’s £100 million funding cut unanswered.
On Wednesday 28 October, the Labour Chancellor John Healey announced his Budget.
He claimed that it would create “breathing space for today” and “fresh hope for the future”.
But I have gone through his Budget line by line to find out what it means for people in Westminster.
The findings? More taxes on family homes and landlords. More spending powers for Mayor Sadiq Khan. And nothing on the £100 million Labour-imposed budget cuts that Westminster is facing.
Let’s run through the headlines:
- No mention of the Fair Funding Review 2.0 or the cuts to Westminster’s budget. Westminster’s core funding is being cut by £100 million, from £219 million to £119 million, almost halving it. The Budget gave councils no new core funding, so the Labour Government’s cuts will mean council tax rises and service cuts.
- Family Home Tax confirmed. Labour is going ahead with its Family Home Tax on homes worth £2 million or more, from April 2028. This will disproportionately hit families across London who face higher housing costs of between £2,500 and £7,500 a year. Residents across Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, Richmond and Wandsworth are expected to pay more than half of what it raises across the country, with all of this money going to the Treasury instead of being kept locally.
- More control for the Mayor. From April 2027, Sadiq Khan will get a share of the business rates raised in London, including Westminster’s, and he is also being given a visitor levy on people staying overnight in London. Westminster generates nearly 10 per cent of the country’s business rates and welcomes 800,000 people every day. I say to the Mayor: money that is raised from our visitors and businesses in Westminster should stay in Westminster to deliver the services that local people and visitors rely on.
- A tax on landlords. From April 2027, tax on property income is increasing by a further two percentage points, on top of the two points announced last year. Higher costs for landlords will result in higher costs passed on to tenants. In a city where rents are already high, this is just another expense being imposed on hard-working people by Labour.
- A hit on entrepreneurs. Business Asset Disposal Relief is halved from £1 million to £500,000 from April 2027, which hits people who build and sell their own businesses.
While Labour’s £100 energy payment for households in council tax bands A to D is welcome, it does not offset the rising costs people in Westminster face because of Labour’s politics of envy.
Let’s not forget the state of the finances we inherited in May. Westminster Labour left behind £56 million of waste, including a £19 million pre-election council tax freeze gimmick, and still will not hold their own Government to account for the funding cuts they are imposing.
Same Old Labour: reckless with your money locally and taxing you harder nationally.
This Conservative administration is doing its part. 520 non-frontline roles are going, which will save £29 million a year, so we make savings before touching the services you rely on.
We are also challenging these funding cuts under the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 alongside the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, Wandsworth and Richmond upon Thames in a cross-party campaign. Thank you to everyone who took part in Budget Choices.
