Wokingham Borough Council’s Liberal Democrat administration has found the latest excuse for their mismanagement – comparing the funding they get to other, less well-off parts of the country. This makes no sense, and is simply deflecting away from the Liberal Democrats’ inability to properly run the Council’s finances.
To start with, in communications with residents the Liberal Democrats keep focusing on only one grant. But the Council’s core spending power – including a number of Government grants, retained business rates and Council Tax – is set to increase by 7% in the new financial year. That is more than the average for England and more than any other council in Berkshire. The Social Care Grant will increase by nearly 17% to £6.3 million, and the Government has since announced an extra £500 million will be distributed amongst all Councils for Adults and Children’s services.
Core Spending Power is a council’s main income, but it doesn’t include the additional Government funding for schools or things like road repairs.
So why is the Liberal Democrats’ comparison nonsense? Our Core Spending Power per household is more than any other Council in Berkshire apart from Slough. And it is more than most Unitary Councils in England have to spend including places like Swindon, Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes, and Brighton and Hove.
The Council has compared its funding to that of Blackpool who gets the most funding. Yet, Blackpool cannot raise the same level of Council Tax as we can in Wokingham. In Blackpool, 44.2% of homes are in band A, those paying the lowest Council Tax. In Wokingham, just 2.6% of homes are in Band A.
It’s right that any administration continues to make the case for more funding for their area. When the Conservatives were in power, we pressed Government for more money for Wokingham Borough and met with the then Secretary of State to make our case. We will continue to press the Government for more money if we are elected.
However, the Liberal Democrats comparing Government funding in areas with some of the greatest need, like Blackpool, where salaries and life expectancy are less and unemployment is higher, just isn’t credible – especially not when they run a Council that has such a high core spending power. And it’s shameful when the Liberal Democrats use a false narrative to frighten residents into believing the Council’s about to go bust.
It is certainly unlikely that any future Labour Government would increase the proportion of funding for areas like Wokingham when we already have more money per household than more deprived areas like Darlington.
In 2020, under a Conservative administration, Wokingham Borough was rated in the top 20 for financial sustainability by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy. Just last year the Council’s Chief Financial Officer said that the Council’s Finances were in good shape under the previous Conservative administration.
This month the Liberal Democrat administration will set their budget.
The Liberal Democrats tell us that they are both financially responsible and that the Council is on the brink of bankruptcy. Neither of those statements is true.
The Liberal Democrats are cutting universal services and hiking fees and charges. A Conservative administration would take the approach we used when we ran the Council: delivering savings by improving efficiency, while keeping increases in charges to a minimum and listening to residents.
In May’s local elections, you can make this happen by backing the Conservatives.
