The London Borough of Bexley is calling for ‘a fairer share’ of funding provided centrally in its response to the Government’s provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2025 to 2026 consultation.

The response explains how Bexley’s population is growing, with a shift of inner London issues and pressures spreading to outer London, while funding from central government fails to reflect that.

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

It is disappointing that the settlement includes a reduction in the share of national funding that Bexley will receive. We could do so much more for our residents if we had a fairer share.

As a London borough, we continue to be significantly impacted by high inflation, increasing levels of demand, specifically for Adult and Children’s Social Care, SEN transport and Housing, but also other demand-led services such as Parking and Waste services.

Bexley has been under-funded by central government for many years and this settlement does not address that and nor do the level of grants and resource reflect the demands we face and the costs of delivering the significant statutory responsibilities and new responsibilities being imposed by Government.

We are also concerned that the provisions set aside for the cost pressures caused by the Government's decision to significantly increase the costs of employers' National Insurance Contributions are woefully inadequate to cover the combined direct costs - and contractual or third-party costs - the Council will face. The measures in the Employment Rights Bill will also add significant costs, which the Government has not committed to fully cover. This will undoubtedly have a negative impact on services and cause valuable resources to be taken from elsewhere.

Funding provided centrally does not reflect the demands generated by new responsibilities placed on us directly in the provision of social care services and housing related support. While we welcome the continuation and increase in the Social Care grant, this is still insufficient to fund increasing pressures. The public should also be aware that the Government is set to make further changes to local government spending formulas for future years and all the indicators from this settlement show that Bexley is set to lose out as a result."

The consultation response points out that the Council would still be “hugely short-changed” by changes made in the mid-2000s by the then Government, which have yet to be remedied.

The Council agreed with the proposed approach to distributing Revenue Support Grant, eliminating negative Revenue Support Grant - the existence of which demonstrated the need for reform of the overall funding distribution formula.

Cllr Leaf continues:

There continues to be a disparity between what Bexley receives compared to our neighbours from central funds, despite sharing some similar issues and pressures."

The consultation has now closed and the Council’s response is included in the papers going to Public Cabinet on 23 January.

The Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2025 to 2026 Consultation Response is available on the Democracy website.