Boris Johnson to freeze GLA precept on council tax (From This Is Local London)

Boris Johnson to freeze GLA precept on council tax

8:11am Monday 15th December 2008

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Boris Johnson is set to make good on promises not to increase his share of council tax next year.

The London mayor slaps an extra charge on council tax bills for boroughs across the capital but has frozen the figure, known as the precept, in his draft budget for 2009-2010.

Money raised through the precept goes to the Mayor’s Office itself, the Greater London Authority (GLA), the police and the fire brigade.

Mr Johnson said: “In this time of economic uncertainty it is more important than ever to deliver value for money and to keep taxes as low as possible.

“When people are feeling the squeeze, the last thing politicians should do is hit them with tax increases.

“For far too long the previous mayoralty produced inflation busting increases without regard to cutting waste and controlling costs.

“With these budget plans we have made over £100m of efficiency saving so that we are able to freeze the GLA precept at the same time as putting 500 extra police on the streets, which is something that has never been done before.”

The freeze was originally announced at the Tory party conference in September.

The budget is up for consultation and anyone who wants to take part can find it at www.london.gov.uk.

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