I want to take this opportunity to provide an update on our campaign to persuade the government to moderate its proposed reduction in revenue support for Wokingham Borough Council. To remind everyone, if the government does not change its position, the council is set to lose nearly £50 million of funding over the next three years.
We decided that, rather than yell from the sidelines about the unfairness of what the government is proposing, it would be most productive to engage with ministers and try to convince them that their proposals, if not changed, would cause great damage not just to Wokingham but to a great swathe of councils across England.
That damage will obviously affect the ability of councils to pay for services, to the detriment of residents. But it will also mean that the government will find itself obliged to spend a lot of money propping up councils pushed into an unsustainable position by ministers’ own funding cuts.
We continue to work through council networks to find allies and campaign together. We are represented on the South-East Strategic Leaders (Wokingham currently chairs the group) and that body has sent a letter to government making the case for a rethink by ministers. Our MPs – Clive Jones and Yuan Yang – have been helpful in presenting our ask to fellow MPs and ministers and continue their behind-the scenes work on our behalf.
We continue to lobby the government directly and will be using the opening provided by the party conferences to get our message across.
A fortnight ago, the resignation of the deputy prime minister, who was also the secretary of state responsible for local government, led to a ministerial reshuffle. One of the casualties of that process was the local government minister, Jim McMahon, who had been engaging with us constructively. I am sorry he is no longer in office.
However, the new secretary of state offers us some hope of a sympathetic hearing at that level of government. Steve Reed was the leader of a London council before he became an MP and knows local government’s challenges at first hand. Many of the London councils are in a similar position to Wokingham and will face a significant reduction in funding if the government does not change course.
We have already corresponded with the new secretary of state, setting out the logic behind our request for a 4% floor in the annual increase in Core Spending Power (the total amount of revenue available to councils) to prevent those already under pressure from requiring emergency funding from government.
While Wokingham is in a stronger financial position than most of the potential losers under the government’s proposals, even Wokingham will be forced into some deeply unpalatable decisions if ministers refuse to modify their approach.
I would welcome the support of other parties on the council for our campaign for a 4% floor in the annual increase in Core Spending Power, below which no council should fall. This is surely an occasion when party differences should be put aside so we can all to work together in the best interests of the borough we serve.
By Cllr Stephen Conway, leader of Wokingham Borough Council
