Bromley will set its annual budget after losing out from the Government’s announcement on local authority funding, with Bromley’s Government grant now being reduced, by £22.2m per year by 2028/29.
Bromley will lose significant funding from April 2026 following the announcement. The provisional figure for the Outer London borough represents a 22% reduction in core funding for Bromley by 2028/29 or 28% in real terms when factoring in inflation. This announcement creates further significant challenges as the Council continues with its annual budget setting process, with residents now able to share their views in the usual way.
The anticipated funding levels from the Government’s announcement also increases the disparity between Bromley’s funding and other London boroughs, with Bromley historically already the second lowest Government funding in London. When Council Tax bills were set last year, Bromley would have received £80.4m more if it received the average Government funding per head for London. Under the new arrangements, Bromley would receive £112m more for 2026/27 with the average Government funding per head. Even with the average settlement per head for Outer London, Bromley would receive an additional £74.7m in 2026/27.
Councillor Colin Smith, Leader of Bromley Council said, “Recent events prove that funding is most emphatically not being distributed across Outer London on a fair or balanced basis, and indeed, it increasingly appears as if we are now being deliberately punished for pursuing our well-known reputation for careful financial management and thrift running back many years whilst other higher spending boroughs with far less disciplined historic spending records are being rewarded with even more cash directly at our expense.
“Not only have Bromley’s pleas for ‘Fairer Funding’ been completely ignored, but the situation has just been made considerably worse by the Government’s decision to reduce our existing grant by a further £22.2m per year. The Council is of course currently considering all options open to it as we simply cannot carry on like this.”
The announcement on the Government’s provisional grant funding for local authorities follows their review of local government funding. During this review, the Leader of the Council shared Bromley’s response to the Government’s Fair Funding review consultation with residents, which emphasised Bromley’s long-held position that current funding model was unfair on Bromley to the detriment of the services residents rely on and was in need of significant reform.
Residents can find out more and share their views as part of the usual budget consultation process, with further details on our website.
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For media enquiries, please contact James George, Senior Public Affairs Officer, on 020 8313 4565 or email james.george@bromley.gov.uk