West Berkshire’s council leader has blasted the MP for half the district after she said the Government funding review is a good thing.
West Berkshire’s council leader has blasted the MP for half the district after she said the Government funding review is a good thing. He says the district looks set to lose millions. She says it will get millions.
“We are at least £17m down and she is staying we are £9m up. There is nothing to crow about here,” said West Berkshire’s Liberal Democrat council leader Jeff Brooks (Lib Dem, Thatcham West).
Brooks called it an “unfair funding review”, after the Government’s Local Government Finance Settlement was announced yesterday (Thursday).
Reading West and Mid Berkshire Labour MP Olivia Bailey welcomed the announcement, saying the council is “getting a large funding boost under the Local Government Funding Settlement”. She says West Berkshire will receive a £19.5m cash injection for essential services, an 11 per cent increase in the council’s spending power.
The money is part of the first multi-year funding settlement in more than a decade, giving councils three years of 'financial certainty', Ms Bailey said. “This cash injection for West Berkshire will allow them to make a real difference for communities and develop services like libraries, youth provision, and community hubs,” she added. “I am looking forward to working with the council to deliver the benefits of this funding settlement for my constituents in Reading West and Mid Berkshire.”
But the council says the figures show West Berkshire will see one of the lowest increases in core spending power nationally. It is still working through the details, but Government figures show West Berkshire’s core spending power – which assumes council tax will increase – will rise by just over a third of the national average. Without the projected council tax increases, the council says it would have seen an actual reduction in spending power.
The Revenue Support Grant, a key source of Government funding, looks set to fall sharply under the new formula. Initial analysis based on a deprivation index – which channels more cash to poorer, generally more northern or red wall areas – suggests the grant will drop from £27m to £16m in just two years, almost halving.
The council says that by 2029 its core spending power will be £191m. With inflation at three per cent, the cost of essential services such as adult and children’s social care, waste services and debt repayments would consume almost all of this.
Iain Cottingham (Lib Dem, Thatcham Central), executive member for finance, said: “This settlement is deeply disappointing and will make an already difficult situation worse.
“West Berkshire is one of the most negatively impacted councils in the country, and the effect of years of austerity measures continues to compound the decisions we have to make.
“Despite our best efforts, this makes it extremely challenging to move towards a more financially sustainable footing while continuing to deliver the services our residents rely on.
“However, we will continue to do the best we can with what we have to ensure our residents continue to receive the services they rely on, and to continue to improve them, which is our objective across the council.”
Niki Hinman, Local Democracy Reporter
