Wokingham Borough Council, already in receipt of less central government funding than any other council with the same range of responsibilities, is threatened with a massive reduction in the level of support it receives. Ministers have outlined plans that, if carried through, would remove nearly £50 million of government funding from the council over the next three years.
This bleak picture may seem cause for low spirits, even despair. But I remain positive about our ability to rise to this challenge, enormous though it is.
We are not alone. More than fifty other councils, including some that are Labour led, are set to lose substantial government funding. We are seeking allies with whom we can work collaboratively to persuade the government to moderate its approach. Our suggested method is the introduction of a floor in government funding, below which no council would fall. But we will happily support any mitigations suggested by other councils.
My positive feelings are not just based on being one of many councils likely to experience a dramatic decline in government support. More important, in my eyes, is the strength of our council and the community it serves.
Wokingham Borough Council is better placed to weather the storm than many others. We have ensured that we have a healthy level of reserves, and we have become accustomed, thanks to our historic under-funding, to having to make tough decisions to save money or generate income. The scale of the challenge is much bigger than before, but the experience of having to deal with difficult situations is not new to us.
I like to think, of course, that the current administration has played a difficult hand well. But perhaps the most important contribution we have made is to work collaboratively with our excellent officers, whose dedicated efforts for the public good are the foundation of the council’s success.
The word success is appropriate. We perform strongly in external assessments of the council. Most recently, the Care Quality Commission ranked our adult social care service as the third best in England. If levels of government support had been taken into account, we would have been first by a country mile. We have been rated by the local government consultancy Impower as fifth best in England in terms of efficiency, measured by outcomes achieved per pounds spent. And only a few months ago, we were short-listed for the prestigious Council of the Year award.
I remain positive not just because I – and others – see Wokingham as a strong council with a record of surviving major funding challenges, but also because we have the support and help of a strong community. External assessors of the council comment favourably on our partnership arrangements – with the local voluntary and charitable sector, with local business, with the University of Reading, with other councils in Berkshire, and with the Youth Council. I am enormously grateful for our partners’ contributions to making Wokingham such a great place to live and work. Together we have achieved much more than we could have done on our own.
We have allies, we have internal strength, and we have community help. That is why, despite the enormous scale of the challenge, I remain positive.
