Cabinet Update: Budget Consultation

At tonight’s RBWM Cabinet meeting (see video clip below), I raised 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 about the upcoming budget consultation – something that will affect almost every household in our borough:

𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀’ 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝘅 𝗵𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗯𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱?

I highlighted the widespread concern that this consultation could be just a box-ticking exercise. Many residents worry that the council has already made up its mind, given the dire financial situation and the looming threat of a Section 114 notice (essentially declaring bankruptcy). If raising council tax is unavoidable, what weight will residents’ views really carry?

𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲?

In recent consultations, there have been frustrating delays in publishing results. I asked for guarantees that residents will see the full consultation results well before the final budget is debated and decided at Full Council.

𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗖𝗹𝗹𝗿 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹:

“𝒀𝒆𝒂𝒉 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒍 𝒕𝒂𝒙, 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆’𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆, 𝒍𝒆𝒕’𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒕, 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒗𝒐𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒍 𝒕𝒂𝒙 𝒉𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒐𝒇 25%, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅. 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒑𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏. 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏-𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆.”

While it’s good to hear commitments about listening to residents and publishing results promptly, I can’t help but wonder how can the council say they’re listening while also saying the hike is unavoidable? If the council has no real choice but to significantly raise council tax to avoid a Section 114 notice, is this consultation meaningful or just an attempt to justify the decision?

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. No one wants a 25% council tax rise – least of all me or many of my fellow councillors – but the financial challenges we face mean the options are limited. The only alternative appears to be filing for a Section 114 notice, which would effectively mean the council loses control of its finances, with spending decisions being made by government-appointed commissioners. This could lead to even harsher cuts to vital services and less say for residents.

However, even with a government loan and a council tax hike, how can we be sure the council won’t find itself in the same position next year? With £16m overspent so far this year and £30m in accounting errors since 2021, residents have every right to question how we got here and whether these measures will provide long-term stability.

This issue is now under 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘆. Today, our MP Jack Rankin raised this matter with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, asking him to reject the proposed 25% council tax increase. The Prime Minister responded:

“𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒇 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔. 𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆, 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒔, 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒙𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒈𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒂𝒙𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒅𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒈𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 £4 𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒕.”

It’s vital that residents understand the scale of the challenge and are genuinely involved in prioritising where money is spent. But it’s equally important that the council is honest about the limited options available, the risks involved, and how they plan to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸? 𝗗𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲? 𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀!