Ealing Council's cabinet will consider proposals to increase council tax by 1.99% when it meets today (Wednesday, February 9).

Cabinet will discuss the plans as part of the council's draft Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS), which sets out the council's spending, savings, and investments for the financial year ahead. By law, the council must balance its budget, demonstrating through the MTFS that it can afford to pay for its planned activities.

If cabinet agrees, all councillors will have the opportunity to vote on whether to introduce the rise when Full Council meets on Tuesday, March 1

Cabinet will also discuss whether to add the government's 1% social care precept to council tax bills. The social care precept is a separate charge and the money it raises can only be spent on providing social care for adults. The 1% rise proposed would generate around £1.5million extra for Ealing.

Ealing spent nearly £84million on adult social care last year and around 60p in every £1 that it spends goes towards helping adults and children.

Councillor Steve Donnelly, cabinet member for decent living incomes, said: "Ealing has been hit hard by COVID-19 and, as a borough, we are still recovering.

"We want to do everything in our power to help our communities, particularly hard-up households, who bore the brunt of the pandemic and are now on the frontline of the cost-of-living crisis. Now, more than ever, we need to make sure that our services can support and protect them as much as possible.

"When government announced their financial settlement for local councils, they made it clear that a 1.99% rise, plus their 1% social care precept, was part of the plan. With this built into government calculations, we are left with some tough choices. Unfortunately, after 10 years of government cuts, inflation at a 30-year high, and with more people needing our help, we must consider raising council tax."

The cabinet report is available to read online ahead of the meeting today at 7:00pm.