London Mayor Sadiq Khan proposes council tax increase to fund 600 extra police officers

Mayor Sadiq Khan has proposed increasing his share of Londoners’ council tax by 22p a week to tackle violent crime in the capital.

The proposed increase will raise an additional £15.7m for policing and crime reduction on top of the London mayor’s initial council tax proposals.

The mayor, pictured above, said this will allow him to fast-track funding to bring forward 600 extra police officers into 2020/21, who would otherwise not have been recruited until 2021/22.

The mayor has therefore proposed to increase his share of council tax bills by £11.56 a year from April, meaning that an average Band D household will pay £332.07 to City Hall.

Of this increase, £10 or 19p a week, will go directly towards policing and tackling violent crime in the city.

This is the maximum amount the government will allow the Mayor to increase his share of council tax that goes directly to policing and crime reduction.

The mayor will also increase the share of council tax that goes to non-policing services by £1.56, or 3p a week, as previously announced in December, with the proceeds from this increase all going to the London Fire Brigade.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “The stark reality of the increase in violent crime that we have seen in London and around the country means that I have no choice but to increase the policing element of the council tax by the maximum amount allowed.”