Stoke Newington low traffic neighbourhood, one of 19 introduced in Hackney in the last three years

Last night, Councillors and the Mayor agreed the budget for the year ahead, which outlines the investments Hackney Council is making to continue to run essential services, create opportunities for residents, and transform streets, town centres and neighbourhoods. 

These include:

• Building dozens of new council homes, as part of our commitment to build 1,000 homes by 2026.
• Ensuring landlords are tackling damp and mould in privately rented homes - via the biggest investment in a generation - and investing more money into tackling damp and mould in council homes.
• Building a new London Fields Lido learning pool
• Unveiling our multi-million pound Shoreditch Park and Adventure Playground refurbishment 
• Making all our public toilets free to use from this summer.
• Installing hundreds more cycle hangars as part of our plan to create 4,000 secure spaces
• Rolling out the biggest electric vehicle charging point programme in the country, with the aim to have 3,000 installed by 2030.
• Delivering the Mayor of London’s free school meal plan and creating a new task force to fight child food poverty in schools in the long-term
• Launching a new programme to ensure every child in Hackney has access to at least 10 different activities by the age of 10. 

The budget also sadly includes a Council Tax increase of 4.99% - made up of 2% for social care and 2.99% for all services.

It means most residents will pay less than £1 extra a week but will ensure the Council can raise more than £5m to fund services for residents at a time when they need them most. 

Council Tax allows the Council to provide vital services for residents, including: 

• Social care for children and adults
• Waste and recycling
• Parks, leisure centres, libraries
• Measures to reduce poverty
• Resources to tackle the climate emergency 
• Community safety
• Services for schools 
• Activities for young people.

Despite the Council Tax increase, Hackney will continue to have one of the lowest rates in London. The increase is a difficult decision for us to make. We know that many across the borough are struggling financially. That’s why we are making available more help and support than ever to help those affected by the Council Tax rise.

The Council already injects £26m into reducing Council Tax for 26,000 vulnerable households. However, this year, we will also:  

• Make a £50 one-off payment to protect these households from this Council Tax rise
• Double the usual level of Council Tax hardship funding. 

The Council is also ensuring more money and support is available for those hardest-hit by rising costs through millions of pounds hardship funding for food, energy and household items; and more investments in supporting local organisations to directly help harder-to-reach communities. 

This year’s budget promises that the Council will work together with its communities to ensure the borough is fairer, safer, greener, healthier, and one that works for every child. 

You can read more about these investments - as well as some of what we achieved for residents in the last financial year - in the Mayor of Hackney’s blog.

You can also get a fuller breakdown of investments here.