Residents face a council tax hike of up to 70% and cuts to local services as the Town Hall wrestles with a deepening cash crisis.

Council chiefs met last night to consider the increase alongside a £65.3 million savings squeeze over four years—with care services, community groups, library deliveries and sports activities all in the firing line.

RBKC faces a gaping £53.9 million hole in next year’s finances before savings or tax rises, as government funding losses and soaring care costs hammer its budget.

Deputy Leader Emma Will (Con, Royal Hospital) described a “perfect storm” of reduced funding and spiralling costs.

“We’ve made efficiencies, but we need to do more. That’s not easy and you can’t do it overnight,” she said.

In an emotional statement to fellow councillors, she warned that the council couldn’t find millions of pounds in savings quickly.

“So it is with great regret… and I don’t even have the words, because it is so depressing… in line with the government’s suggestion, we must put council tax up by a significant amount – I fear up to 70%. We are forced to do this. We have no choice.”

Council Leader Elizabeth Campbell (Con, Royal Hospital) said the scale and speed of government funding cuts were devastating.

“None of us came into politics to raise taxes by this amount,” she said.

A 70% increase would add about £809 a year—roughly £67 per month—to the borough’s share of a Band D bill, the national benchmark.

That would take RBKC’s charge from around £1,156 to £1,965, with the Mayor of London’s separate charge on top.

And the rises wouldn’t end there: the plans assume another 5% increase each year afterwards.

Much of the pressure comes from the growing cost of looking after vulnerable children and adults.

Children’s care placements alone need almost £5.9 million extra next year. Officers blame a shortage of foster carers, increasingly complex needs and steep care charges.

Care for older and disabled adults needs another £2.3 million above the council’s general inflation allowance.

Yet both services are also being asked to make savings: £11.4 million from adult social care and £3.1 million from children’s services over four years.

Elsewhere, library home deliveries face reductions, underused sports programmes would lose funding and community groups face a squeeze on support.

Motorists could also be hit. The council wants an extra £4 million in parking income from 2028/29, although the papers don’t spell out how it would be raised.

And a large part of the savings programme remains unresolved. The council still has to identify which service budgets will provide £29.7 million of the planned savings—leaving residents waiting to learn where much of the axe will fall.

Last night’s meeting also approved £32.3 million from reserves for digital investment following the cyber attack and changes to how the council operates.

Residents now have until 6th January to give their views on the proposed tax rises and savings, before the final budget and council tax increase are decided on 3rd March.

For households in the Royal Borough already counting the pennies, it is a painful prospect: paying more while getting less.