jprole/sxc.hu
The leader of Wokingham Borough Council says he is confident that they will be able to deliver protects frontline services for the next financial year, despite a decline in Government funding.
In figures released on Christmas Eve, the Council says that for the financial year of 2015/16 it is losing £3.1m – 10% of its budget – as a result of the central Government cuts.
The money helps pay for key services – known as frontline services – including social care, education, waste and recycling, housing and transport infrastructure are funded from council tax and Government grants.
Cllr Keith Baker, the leader of Wokingham Borough Council, is confident that it can meet the needs of the borough’s residents, despite the need to make cutbacks.
He said: “We remain the lowest funded unitary authority in England. We receive £156.35 per head of the population, compared with the national average for unitary authorities of £344.92. That’s nearly three times more than we receive, yet we provide the same statutory services for people living and working in the Wokingham Borough.
“We have been planning for a reduction to our funding of this level and I am confident we will set a budget that protects our frontline services. However grant reductions in future years look inevitable, and tough considerations will need to be made in arriving at a balanced budget.”
And the budget reductions, which will be debated at a council excutive meeting on Thursday, February 19, painint a different picture to what has been said elsewhere.
Keith said: “Despite the national headlines stating we’ll be receiving an increase of £3.1million (2.6%), the reality is very different.
“The grant we’ve received from the Government this year includes £4.25million for public health, which wasn’t there last year and is ring fenced. So this supposed increase of £3.1 million is immediately wiped out by this £4.25million to fund this additional service passed on from the NHS.
“We actually lose £3.1million (2.6%) when you remove other additional items which were not there last year. This £3m reduction is actually a drop of more than 10% on our main Government grant.”
