The London Borough of Bexley has set out measures to end the ‘unfair distribution’ of centrally provided funding in its response to the Government’s technical consultation on local authority funding reform: objectives and principles.

Providing multi-year financial settlements to allow local authorities to plan better, using up-to-date information to determine funding allocation, providing funding for prevention services that take longer to deliver outcomes, and improving transparency are among the measures Bexley is calling for (please see Notes to Editors below for further information).

The Council welcomes the opportunity to respond to the consultation and underlines its need for a fair share of funding and resources to tackle the mounting challenges it faces, with an expectation that no authority should be worse off as a result of the proposed changes.

Bexley’s population is growing, with a shift of inner London issues and pressures spreading to outer London. Funding from central government has failed to reflect that and reform is long overdue but ‘a positive step in providing a responsible and sustainable local government finance system that is fit for purpose’.

Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Resources, Cllr David Leaf said:

Bexley is home to 250,000 people and that number is growing. We’re increasingly ethnically diverse and have a high proportion of veteran residents. We’ve seen demand for our services grow, whilst our funding to help meet those needs has been squeezed.

We are very disappointed that in the funding settlement for 2025/26 this new Government has cut our share of the national funding given to councils and as part of this consultation we are fighting hard to get a fairer share and higher levels of funding to meet our needs.

As a London borough, Bexley continues to be significantly impacted by increasing levels of demand for Adult and Children Social Care, SEN transport and Housing, as well as services such as Parking and Waste services.

Higher inflation has increased costs and the knock-on effect of increased National Insurance contributions by employers will also affect us.

Funding provided centrally does not reflect these increased demands and costs, nor does it fully reflect the costs and demands generated by new burdens and responsibilities placed on us directly in the provision of social care services and housing-related support.

Despite us sharing some similar issues and pressures, there continues to be a disparity between what Bexley receives from central funds compared to our neighbours. Our share of national funding in the settlement has reduced and we are also disappointed in not receiving a share of the Recovery Grant.

Bexley has lived within its means and to continue to invest in the services our residents use the Government needs to listen and engage with us rather than ignore Bexley and show favouritism to other parts of London and the country.

We are proud of our high employment rate, our thriving community and voluntary sector, our beautiful open spaces and our consistently high recycling rate.

We are a family-friendly borough and are consistently rated amongst the safest boroughs in London. We’re proud of our unique character and we’ve committed to our residents that we will keep making Bexley even better. We could do so much more for our residents if we had a fairer share.”

The consultation closed on 12 February 2025 and the Council’s full response is available by contacting communications@bexley.gov.uk.

Notes to editors

Key points from the London Borough of Bexley consultation response:  

• Bexley welcomes the opportunity to respond to the consultation. Some of the points raised were also raised in our response to the provisional local government finance settlement 2025 to 2026.
• We believe that this reform is long overdue and see it as a positive step in providing a responsible and sustainable local government finance system that is fit for purpose, with no local authority worse off.
• Funding provided centrally does not reflect the demands and costs, nor does it fully reflect the costs and demands generated by new burdens and responsibilities placed on us directly in the provision of social care services and housing related support.
• We want to ensure that Bexley receives its fair share of funding and resources so that we can effectively tackle the challenges which we face and we hope that the current funding reform ends the unfair distribution.  Bexley’s share of national funding in the settlement has reduced and we are also disappointed in not receiving some grants in the final local government settlement 2025/26 e.g. Recovery grant
• The Council is concerned about the continued reliance on Council Tax as a primary driver for increasing Core Spending Power
• The Council would like clarity on what updating local authority funding allocations will mean for the Borough.
• The Council would like to see a funding system:
  • that provides multi-year financial settlements to allow local authorities to plan better.  The recent single-year settlements have disproportionately and negatively impacted Bexley in its ability to plan services for its residents. We believe a three-year settlement to be reasonable
  • that is transparent – where changes can be scrutinised by the relevant sectors
  • where up-to-date, relevant information is used to determine funding allocation – and not the Census as that was skewed for London in 2019
  • accounts for differences between local authorities in demand for services and where the cost differential in service delivery across the country is reflected
  • that is easy to understand, so that residents can hold both local and central government accountable
  • that can be tracked, particularly where the number of grants is being rolled up and reduced
  • provides funding for prevention services that take longer to deliver outcomes.
  • Regarding Business Rates reset, the Council agrees for there to be transitional arrangements to prevent sudden changes to its funding.
• The Council has seen a reduction in grants such as the New Homes Bonus and would like a solution that provides certainty of ongoing funding to incentivise, encourage and support housebuilding in areas and authorities facing the greatest housing pressures with no stock of their own.
• The Council would like, where possible, to see the sensible removal of ring-fencing from grant funding and prescriptions on how funding can be spent. This will enable Bexley to determine how to target funding more effectively across service areas.

The Council is concerned with the removal/reduction of new burdens funding, particularly if these are subsumed into other grants and the transparency of this funding source is lost. The council needs to be appropriately funded by the services it is obligated to provide, so any change should come with appropriate and sufficient funding.