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Disappointing government grant settlement increase for Bromley
Again Bromley Council will receive a totally inadequate government grant support settlement for services for 2007/08. The £57m, which represents an increase of less than £1m over this year’s figure, is considerably below the level of inflation and is wholly inadequate to fund the spending pressures that the Council faces. This follows yesterday’s announcement in Parliament by Phil Woolas, Minister for Local Government and Community Cohesion, in which he promised that government support for local councils in England will rise by 4.9% to £3.1billion next year, masking the less beneficial reality for Bromley residents.
This is the fifth year running that the Council has not received enough money from government to even cover the cost of inflation, let alone the increased demand for and rising costs of providing many Council services, including adults with learning disabilities, social care and waste management. The Council is also denied access to other sources of government funding simply because the seemingly affluent view of the Borough as a whole masks pockets of real need.
As part of the Council’s continuing campaign for a better deal for the people of Bromley, the Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Carr, sent a letter to Phil Woolas last week formally requesting under the Freedom of Information Act, details of the total amount of funding that goes to each London borough, and particularly the amount that is driven by measures of deprivation. This follows a meeting with the Minister in June of this year, at which he acknowledged that nobody at ministerial level has an overview of the entire government funding going to each Council and that the information being requested by Bromley on each Council’s share would be useful. He has since failed to provide a full response.
Said Councillor Carr: “Once again we are disappointed, but not surprised that the residents of Bromley are being penalised financially. While we accept that money must be directed to areas of greatest need, we continue to challenge the fairness of a funding system that fails to recognise the existence and needs of less affluent areas within our borough. In the absence of greater government support, we will continue to ensure we provide value for money services for our residents. Given this continuing situation, and without the financial support enjoyed by some of our neighbouring boroughs with similar issues, our ability to maintain service levels and keep our Council tax among the lowest in outer London is under threat. We remain undeterred in our commitment to lobby government for a fair share for the people of Bromley and encourage a wider debate about the future of local government funding”.
ENDS
Notes to Editors