Council Tax 2021/22: A letter from the Leader

Dear resident, 

I know that the last 12 months have been challenging for so many of us, and I would like to thank the very many people who have helped to keep Sutton safe.  

During this time, staff at the Council have continued to deliver more than 800 vital services while responding to the pandemic. From setting up the food hub to supporting local businesses, we’ve helped our community to deal with the health and economic challenges created by this terrible pandemic. 

Over the next 12 months, your council tax will allow us to deliver the services so many people rely on while supporting Sutton’s recovery through projects such as The London Cancer Hub, regenerating our district centres and tackling the Climate Emergency.  

Value for money is at the heart of everything we do: we have responded to years of central government cuts by making savings wherever we can, and have delivered £96.4m savings since 2010. In addition, we have identified ways to save a further £5.6m in 2021 - 2022.  

But these savings alone are not enough to meet the rising costs of providing care and support  to more and more of our residents. To protect your vital services, we therefore need to raise council tax by 1.5% and have no choice but to take up the Government’s suggestion to apply the 3% adult social care tax. We understand that these increases come at a particularly challenging time for many of you, and have done everything we can to keep them as low as possible.  

The Mayor of London has also decided to increase the Greater London Authority (GLA) tax by 9.5%. This money goes towards the Metropolitan Police, The London Fire Brigade and Transport  for London. 

This means the average Sutton household (Band D) will pay an extra 41p a week in council tax, an extra 82p a week for the adult social care tax and an extra 61p a week for the GLA precept. 

Thank you for helping us to protect the lives of some of the most vulnerable people living in our borough, while bringing new jobs, homes and improvements to Sutton.  

Yours faithfully, 

Councillor Ruth Dombey 

Leader of Sutton Council 

For a full breakdown of how council tax is spent in Sutton, please visit sutton.gov.uk/counciltax.  If you need assistance please call 020 8770 5000 and select option 1.

Find out how we plan to protect those needing our care and support Sutton’s recovery over the next 12 months.

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