Croydon among country’s biggest losers in Local Government Funding Settlement

Croydon is among the 10 worst hit local authorities in the country after it was announced £1.9m is to be cut from the council’s funding.

During last week’s Local Government Funding Settlement announcement, Sajid Javid, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, announced no new money would be given to councils to tackle the major shortfall in adult social care funding.

Proposals were outlined that will see the reallocation of money from the New Homes Bonus Scheme – a grant paid by central government to local councils including Croydon, for increasing the number of homes in their area and their use, to the Adult Social Care Support Grant.

The announced changes will result in Croydon, who is the seventh biggest loser of funding nationally, losing money it would have received for boosting the number of homes in the borough. London loses over £10m in funding overall, with the majority of that money moving to large county councils around the country.

The substantial cut to funding comes at a time of significant need for the provision of adult social care and just weeks after the council signed up to a four year efficiency plan, which set out the borough’s strategy for delivering £45m of savings by 2020, whilst continuing to deliver excellent frontline services and further investment in the borough.

The plan which was approved at Cabinet in October, detailed clear spending and saving proposals crucial to the council delivering value for money frontline services.

Councillor Tony Newman, leader of the council

“Just weeks after the council signed up to a four year settlement, the Government has breached our trust and moved the goal posts. It is absolutely disgraceful the local government deal will see a further £1.9m cut from Croydon’s funding.

“It is incredibly disappointing the proposals leave Croydon worse off, when in fact the Government should be providing us with extra funding to help tackle the huge pressures and shortfalls in adult social care.

“Redistributing money already promised to councils is not an adequate solution to the funding crisis we face. The Government has again ducked the issue of properly funding national adult social care and instead is once again expecting councils to add this national charge to local council tax bills.

“We will be responding to the Government plans during the consultation period and call on both Conservative Croydon MPs, including the Minister for London, to support the council in challenging this decision and demanding change to protect our front line services and ensure a fairer deal for Croydon residents.”

2016-12-19T17:12:03+00:00 December 19th, 2016|Recent news|