Hillingdon LBC is planning a 1% hike in council tax to pay £1m for asylum-seeker costs. Under the plans, taxpayers will face a 3.75% rise in council tax. However, with the Greater London Authority precept of 5.3%, the overall increase to taxpayers in Hillingdon will be 4.08%. The council has been landed with a £1m-a-year bill to support asylum-seekers who have exhausted all appeals and have not been removed from the UK by the Home Office. Leader of the council, Ray Puddifoot, highlighted that over-65s in the borough would receive a 2% discount on their council tax, but added that the council could no longer afford to pay for asylum-seekers. ‘We have delivered a local council tax increase of less than 3%, but we can no longer afford these additional costs and so, regrettably, we have had to add 1% to our council tax bills,' said Cllr Puddifoot. ‘I am saddened that this additional burden will fall on the taxpayers of Hillingdon.' The council is also awaiting the outcome of a judicial review over costs for unaccompanied asylum-seekers.
