Our budget and how we spend Council Tax

March 2025

Dear resident,

Spending your council tax on the things you care about most

The council exists to provide vital services for you and for everyone in our community. We provide over 800 different services, and we work hard every year to make sure each pound we spend on your behalf goes further.

Everyone knows we empty the bins and clean the streets. However, there is much more the council does. We look after Southwark’s parks, schools and libraries. We fund 26 youth groups and provide social care for over 1,800 vulnerable children and 20,000 adults. We operate a network of over 550 CCTV cameras and have a team of over 100 council officers working to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour. We inspect local restaurants and shops to make sure the food and goods they sell are safe. This year we have also funded more than 400 local voluntary and community groups to provide a wide range of support for Southwark residents.

The council tax that you pay helps to fund these services and many others. £2 out of every £5 that we spend comes from council tax and the rest comes from the Government, business rates and income from services that we charge for. I am glad to say this year the government has increased their funding to Southwark by more than £29 million.

Even with this extra funding from the new government, councils across the country are facing difficult choices about how to fund local services. The number of people who need the council’s help has increased substantially over the last 15 years due to the national cost of living and housing crises. As people live longer there are also more local residents who need social care.

As a result we, like other councils across the country, have had to make the difficult decision to increase council tax this year by 4.99% so we can keep vital services open for you. This will mean an average (Band D) increase of £1.27 a week for residents, which includes 51p extra per week towards social care for vulnerable and older people.

Despite this increase, Southwark will continue to have one of the lowest council tax rates in London. We have also put in place discounts on council tax of up to 100% for people on the lowest incomes.

To help local people make ends meet we also provide a range of free services and cost of living help. As a Southwark resident you can use our council gyms, pools and leisure centres for free at many times of the week. Our council-run Southwark Works service provides free help to find a job or apprenticeship, and over the last two years we have provided cost of living help to over 100,000 local people.

If you need help or support with the cost of living you can find it at www.southwark.gov.uk/here-to-help

We will continue to work hard to deliver the services you need and to make all of the money we spend for you go further.

Best wishes,

Cllr Kieron Williams