Barking & Dagenham vs Merton
Barking & Dagenham charges £2,098.00 Band D council tax in 2025-26, compared to £2,094.00 for Merton — a difference of £4.00. Merton is cheaper.
Key metrics
Side-by-side comparison for 2025-26
Barking & DagenhamMerton
Band D Council Tax£2,098.00£2,094.00 (lower)
Year-on-year change+4.7% (lower)+4.8%
Total service budget£560.3 million£437.7 million
Population218,900213,200
Spending per person£2,560£2,053
Spending by service
Budget allocation comparison
Barking & DagenhamMerton
Education£333.6 million£245.9 million
Adult Social Care£74.1 million£76.9 million
Children's Services£78.5 million£39.7 million
Environment & Streets£14.2 million£20.9 million
Roads & Transport-£3.4 million-£2.4 million
Housing£5.4 million£8.1 million
Leisure & Culture£4.2 million£5.9 million
Public Health£19.0 million£14.0 million
Planning£3.9 million-£960,000
Council Services£13.3 million£14.1 million