THE GOVERNMENT has released the first details of its Local Government Finance Settlement grants for the forthcoming financial year, and once again Wokingham is set to be the lowest funded unitary authority, leading to concerns that Rishi Sunak is acting as Scrooge this Christmas.
While the final figures have yet to be determined, it is thought the borough will receive around £1.8 million – £200,000 less than expected, adding to the council’s financial deficit.
Announcing the plans on Monday, the Levelling Up secretary, MP Michael Gove, said overall it is a 9% increase on last year’s settlement. The rate of inflation is currently 10.7%, down from 11.1%.
It includes a one-off funding guarantee that he said would see at least a 3% increase in core spending power before any council tax decisions are made. And there would be a £2 bullion fund set up to help adult and children’s social care, and £300 million for NHS England to help with patient discharges.
“Local government plays an absolutely vital role in helping us to level up, support the most vulnerable, and deliver key services that people rely on every single day,” Mr Gove said.
“We recognise the pressures councils are facing right now and this spending boost will provide the support and funding local authorities need to continue delivering first rate public services.”
However, Wokingham Borough Council leader Cllr Clive Jones has concerns over the figures that have been announced by the Government.
“I have quite a number of questions,” he said.
“We’ve unwrapped a Christmas present from the government and the box is empty. They haven’t addressed inflation, so our spending power is less that last year, and we are still the lowest funded unitary authority in the country as far as we can see.”
He also had concerns at some of the claims made by the government, and has fears it places additional pressures on residents struggling with the rising cost of living and energy bills.
“They claim spending power is increased by £10.1 million, but £1.1 million of that is assuming we have a 4.99% increase in council tax and 1,000 additional properties.
“Nearly all of that is us putting council tax. How is that helping Wokingham? It isn’t.”
Cllr Jones promised that during the festive season, senior council officers will be toiling throughout – Scrooge would be proud – preparing a response.
“We will be working on a letter, so we can go back to Michael Gove and say this settlement is not acceptable to Wokingham. They just can’t keep doing this (underfunding the council) to us, it is crazy,” he said.
“It will be a detailed letter saying they haven’t done enough for us, and we don’t want to be the lowest funded unitary authority there is.
“It’s an opportunity to go back to them and tell them what we think. We have to try and get more money.”
There was also criticism for the £300 million hospital discharge fund.
“It is spread across the country, to get people out of hospital and into care homes,” he said. “We will get £66,000. That will help just one person get into a nursing home for one year.
“It really isn’t good enough … The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead will get considerably more than us.”
And with the figures not yet set in stone – the grant could go up or down – Cllr Jones expressed frustration at the way in which the Government was rolling this out.
“Local government finance is just a mess,” he said. “We don’t know exactly what we’re going to get. Overall, we don’t expect to be doing much better than we were.
“It’s disappointing.”
Cllr James Jamieson, Chairman of the Local Government Association, called for a longer-term solution – earlier this year, Michael Gove had indicated that there would be an end to the settlement being published on an annual basis, to help councils plan ahead. The data published will be for two years.
While he welcomed an increase in core spending power as it would help deal with inflationary pressures, more needed to be done.
“Underlying and existing pressures remain for councils and many still face significant challenges when setting their budgets and trying to protect services from cutbacks,” he said.
“Councils want to work with government on a long-term plan to fund local services.”
The provisional settlement is open for consultation until January 16, with the final amount set shortly after.
