Hackney Council freeze Council Tax for a record breaking fifth year

Hackney Council have made the decision to freeze Council Tax for a record breaking fifth year, with no cuts to frontline services.

Hackney's council tax is now below the London average and is the only council in the country to have five years in a row with no rise in council tax.

For the fifth successive year Hackney’s part of the Council Tax will not increase, as part of the 2010/11 budget agreed at a meeting of full Council on 3 March, and which comes into effect from April this year.

Mayor Jules Pipe said: “Hackney Council is on the side of residents through difficult economic times. I know that the past year has been difficult for many residents due to the economic climate and I hope that by keeping the Council Tax down we can help to make a life a little easier. We are the only authority in the country to be freezing Council Tax for five years in a row, and it has been achieved alongside record investment in services."

Residents will see no increase in their Council Tax bills this year, due to Hackney’s part of the tax being kept at 2005 levels, as well as a freeze on the Greater London Authority’s (GLA) element.

London-wide services such as the Metropolitan Police, public transport, and the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games are paid for by the GLA’s share of the Council Tax.

Here is what some of Hackney’s 2010/11 budget is to be spent on:

£187 million on education, £119m on adult social care, £72 million on support for young people, £11m on refuse and recycling, £25 million in improving public safety, £9million for eight libraries and a community archive which includes over £3million to build the new Dalston Square library, and £500,000 per year to run it. Also £5million for parks and £4million for sports and leisure.

For more details see the Hackney Council website.