Axe the Hike: Labour's plan to double your council tax

Hammersmith & Fulham's Labour council has drawn up plans that could see its share of council tax rise by as much as 150% next year.

For a Band D household, that's an extra £29.11 every week. Add the GLA precept and the total bill climbs from around £1,519 to more than £3,000. In a single year, your council tax could double.

Even the mildest option in the council's report, a 100% rise, would cost the same household an extra £19.40 a week, and still leave a £46 million gap in the budget.

That's why Liberal Democrats have launched Axe the Hike. This rise is wrong, it's unfair, and we'll oppose it every step of the way.

A broken promise

In December 2025, council leader Stephen Cowan promised that the council would not burden residents with extraordinary new tax rises during a cost of living crisis.

Less than a year later, the crisis is still here. Yet his administration is now planning the biggest council tax rise this borough has ever seen. Residents were given a promise, and Labour should keep it.

Labour against Labour

The cause is Labour's own "fair funding" review, which will cut H&F's government grant from £150.5 million to £72.4 million over four years. Ours is the only Labour-led council caught up in it.

So Labour councillors are blaming a Labour government for a Labour policy, while local families are left to pick up the bill. Residents don't care which Labour office is at fault. They care that their bills are about to soar.

The wrong tax at the worst time

Council tax bears no relation to what people can afford. A pensioner on a fixed income, a young family stretched by rent and childcare, or a household on a modest wage can be hit as hard as someone far better off.

Doubling an unfair tax in the middle of a cost of living squeeze would hurt those who can least afford it. We won't stand by while that happens.

Open the books first

Before asking residents to pay double, the council should show that every pound it already spends is justified. Right now, it can't.

The Civic Campus. In 2019, officers estimated the construction at £130 million, plus £38.8 million for the Town Hall refurbishment and £6.8 million for fit-out, all funded by borrowing. Labour admits it came in over budget, but the final figure is hidden in a confidential cabinet report. The council should publish it, along with evidence for the "substantial annual profit" it claims the scheme makes.

Mass surveillance. The council is spending £3.2 million on upgraded CCTV, including retrospective facial recognition, on top of an earlier £5.4 million programme. Live facial recognition and drones are planned next. Big Brother Watch has called it an unprecedented level of mass surveillance. The council says this is funded by developer contributions and income from other boroughs, but the choice still tells you a lot about Labour's priorities.

Reserves. The council expects to hold £65.8 million in earmarked reserves. Much of it is committed, and reserves can only be spent once, but residents deserve a clear account of what could be used to protect them.

We're submitting freedom of information requests on the Civic Campus, the Law Enforcement Team and facial recognition, and we'll publish what we find.

What we're calling for

• Scrap the rise and keep the December 2025 promise
• Publish the full cost of the Civic Campus and the evidence behind its claimed profits
• Rule out live facial recognition and drone surveillance
• Come clean on reserves and what could protect residents

Sign the petition

If you think doubling council tax is wrong, add your name to the Axe the Hike petition and share it with your neighbours.

You can also get in touch with your local Councillors to share your objections.

Together, we can axe the hike.