Kingston Council has agreed a "balanced" budget for 2026-27, which it says "protects vital services for residents and ensures continued investment to deliver new council homes, tackle inequality and put residents at the heart of services".

In the next financial year Kingston will spend £205.70m on delivering essential services and support and making the borough fairer, safer and greener for all.

Like most other local authorities, Kingston continues to face huge financial pressures after more than a decade of significant government underfunding. 

More adults and children are in need of support - many with increasingly complex needs - and the costs of providing services continue to rise.

Over 66% of the council's budget will be spent on supporting people and families in need. This includes supporting over 1,600 adults with long term care needs, and a further 215 with shorter term needs, over 1,000 children and young people receiving social care support, and almost 2,000 with an education, health and care plan.

Alongside this, around 1,000 homeless families and individuals are being housed in temporary accommodation

Yet despite these challenges, the council says its "work to invest in communities and transform lives continues".

 Leader of Kingston Council, Cllr Andreas Kirsch, said: "Over the last eight years, we have managed the finances of our borough well, despite all these challenges.

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"We always put residents at the heart of what we do and continue to deliver good quality services, as the Local Government Association highlighted in our peer review last year. 

"Alongside our work to ensure people in need can access help, we continue to work for all our residents. We have delivered nearly 400 modern and sustainable council homes across the borough, with more to follow over the next few years. 

"This budget will support ongoing projects to build more council homes, deliver more family and community hubs, enhance green spaces, deliver a children's home, reduce our carbon footprint, strengthen the borough's cultural and leisure, as well as deliver the new Kingston leisure centre." 

We will continue with our financially prudent approach and we will continue to deliver for Kingston and its residents.

Most of the council's income is made up of what it receives from council tax and the proportion of business rates it is allowed to keep.

To continue to deliver the essential services and support people rely on and manage the extreme financial pressures facing local government across the country, the council has agreed a council tax increase of 2.99%, along with a 2% increase in the adult social care precept.

Help is available for those on low incomes or claiming certain benefits through Kingston Council's council tax reduction scheme. 

Find out more about the council tax reduction scheme here.