Many of you will have heard by now about the current proposals for the Government’s Fair Funding Review 2.0, which suggests that Wokingham Borough Council stands to lose £47m of funding over the next three years. That would make us almost totally reliant on the council tax to cover service delivery costs, but nearly all of our council tax increase each year would be needed to plug the gap created by the withdrawal of government support, leaving nowhere enough left to cover inflationary pressures and increased demand for our services and we will still have to pull from other areas.
Most of our lost financial support is being sent by the government to parts of the country with higher levels of deprivation. I totally understand that the better off parts of the country, like ours, need to help those that are worse off. But this plan, as it stands, does not take into consideration that many councils are already at breaking point. Local Councils have been squeezed and squeezed over many years by different governments, and any financial latitude has already been squeezed out.
The government’s proposals do not take into consideration what it actually costs to run the services that our residents need. They also do not take into consideration the cost of living in this area, particularly with higher housing costs, which has an impact on the costs of delivering basic services. Over 70% of our Council funding is spent looking after elderly and disabled adults and children, leaving a relatively small percentage for all other council services, such as grass cutting, roads, and bin collections.
While our MPs are working with us to get Wokingham a better deal, we cannot wait for the government to make up its mind on what it might do. We are already planning for next year’s budget and looking at how this will affect the Council, going forward.
While we cannot say exactly what will happen, there is no way that this level of loss of government support can be completely absorbed without impact.
What I can promise you is, that we will do everything we can to look after the vulnerable and those who need our help the most, first. We will also redouble our efforts to reduce future costs by prevention and early intervention initiatives and continue to work closely with our partners in the community to maximize our ability to help our residents.
I strongly urge any resident who is interested in the Fair Funding Review 2.0 to respond to the Consultation, which ends on the 15th August 2025. Please help us to support the services our residents want us to provide.
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-fair-funding-review-20/the-fair-funding-review-20
By Cllr Imogen Shepherd-DuBey
