Kingston council is to increase its council tax to pay for its Building Schools for the Future scheme, the London borough has said.
The government has pledged £300 million towards Kingston’s school plans. But the council still needs to find nearly £2 million in 2010 to help cover start up costs, and a further £7 million over the next few years.
The borough now plans to plug this hole by raising council tax by 1.9%. Council leader Derek Osbourne said: “This small investment in return for such huge investment in our schools – there is no way we could turn it down. It is the only opportunity we will get to do this, to secure our children’s education.”
The move bucks the trend across London, where most other boroughs have frozen their council tax for the year.