This week (19 February), Merton’s Cabinet gave the green light to a balanced budget that will protect vital frontline services, invest in local communities, and ensure value for money for taxpayers. The budget, which will also continue to provide practical help through the cost of living crisis, will now go to a meeting of Full Council on Wednesday 6 March for final approval.

Local authorities across the country – including Merton Council – are under unprecedented financial pressure. This budget is set against a backdrop of increased costs, reduced revenue from fees and charges since the pandemic, and a sharp increase in demand for services, which means that the council is having to do more with less. The situation is made even more challenging by years of Government cuts to Merton’s funding – down by £17.1 million since 2010.

To make up for their cuts and the inflationary pressures felt by everyone, the Government expects the council to raise Council Tax by 5%. Merton’s funding was calculated with the assumption that the council would go along with the tax rise, meaning even more cuts to the vital services if they didn’t.

To protect the households in Merton on the lowest incomes from the increase in Council Tax, the council is once again offering one of the most generous Council Tax Support schemes in the country. Our expanded scheme will see around 7,000 households lifted out of having to pay Council Tax completely, with around 3,000 more households seeing their bill reduced.

Despite these pressures, our prudent financial management means that the budget also contains a raft of measures which will help us deliver on the priorities of people in Merton. It boosts the Affordable Housing Fund, which will see the first new council homes in a generation built in Merton. We are investing in our 24-hour CCTV network to help us keep Merton as one of the safest boroughs in London. There’s a commitment to the regeneration of Morden, with match funding aimed at pulling in investment to rejuvenate the town centre, and there is further funding to improve our town centres, high streets, and shopping parades across the borough. And to live up to the council’s ambition of becoming London’s borough of sport, there is investment in sports facilities, parks, and green spaces to ensure that All 4–16-year-olds and over 65s will have access to weekly sporting and wellbeing activities.

Councillor Billy Christie, Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “These are incredibly challenging times for local government, and Merton is no exception. The Government continues to underinvest in our borough, putting at risk the vital services that so many rely on. Their only answer to the financial difficulties that they have imposed on all councils is to make residents pay for it by increasing Council Tax.

“However, our sound management of the council’s finances has meant that, at a time when multiple local authorities are declaring bankruptcy, we are able to shield the borough’s least well off from the impact of the Council Tax rise; protect the services that mean so much to our residents from Adult Social Care, to libraries, to street cleaning; and invest in improvements to meet the priorities of people in Merton. And we are continuing practical help through the cost of living crisis for those who are struggling to make ends meet.

“This is a budget that nurtures civic pride by improving the public realm and funding community groups; it builds a sustainable future by making plans for truly affordable housing and greener transport; and it helps us to establish Merton as the borough of sport by investing in the facilities and organisations that will keep our residents active and healthy.”