The government is proposing a big reduction in the revenue support it gives to Wokingham Borough Council as part of the new three-year finance settlement for English councils.
Wokingham, as many of you know, already receives the lowest level of government revenue support of any English council with the same range of responsibilities. Now the government is proposing significantly to reduce that already low level of support.
If implemented, the reductions planned to begin next year would require the council to use nearly all the additional council tax it raises to plug the gap created by the loss of government support. That would leave nowhere near enough to deal with inflationary pressures and increased demand for services.
The government is currently consulting on its proposals, and while we must begin preparation for next year’s budget on the assumption that the worst-case scenario comes to pass, we are working hard to persuade ministers to moderate their approach.
I have written to Jim McMahon, the local government minister, to put the case for a minimum guarantee, or floor, on councils’ total revenue, to ensure no council is put under unsustainable financial pressure.
We cannot believe that the government truly wants to see any council fall over as a result of its new local government finance settlement. It’s not in the government’s interests for that to happen, especially on a large scale, as the consequences would produce a major headache for ministers.
Wokingham has a healthy level of reserves and a good record of financial resilience. The current administration has worked hard to ensure long-term financial viability. We have excellent officers, whose hard work and commitment to public service are the foundations of our success. We will rise to this challenge, as we have to others over the last three years – calmly and rationally. But many councils will struggle to survive if the government does not adjust its proposals. And even in well-managed Wokingham, we will face enormously difficult decisions if there is no significant change in government thinking.
To secure the best possible outcome, the council has been working with the borough’s two MPs, Clive Jones for Wokingham and Yuan Yang for Woodley and Earley, who have been supporting our campaign for a revenue floor below which no council should fall. Our MPs have lobbied ministers and are reaching out to MPs in areas of the country similarly affected to Wokingham.
The council’s chief executive, meanwhile, has written to her counterparts in the more than 50 other councils that we believe are in the same boat as we are. I am following these letters up with letters of my own to council leaders.
We will seize the opportunity that we have during the consultation to try to persuade the government to lessen the negative impact of their proposals. The consultation ends in the middle of next month, and we will have to wait until the Autumn to know whether we have been successful. In the meantime, we are working hard to put plans in place to cope with the extra financial pressures that the proposed reductions in government funding may bring.
Stephen Conway is the leader of Wokingham Borough Council
