Kensington and Chelsea Council is calling on residents to join a borough-wide fightback against government funding reforms which it says will cost the town hall more than £100 million.
Council leader Elizabeth Campbell has urged residents’ associations and the people they represent to rally behind a formal challenge to Westminster.
Cllr Campbell’s appeal letter on the RBKC website
The council plans to use the Sustainable Communities Act to demand that the Government reconsiders its Fair Funding Review, which changes how money is distributed between local authorities.
But Council chiefs say they need residents to demonstrate the strength of opposition before the challenge can go ahead. In a letter emailed to residents’ association chairs today, Cllr Campbell urged people across the borough to respond to an online consultation and make their voices heard.
She warned that Kensington and Chelsea stood to lose more than £100 million over four years—equivalent to more than 40 per cent of its controllable budget. Cllr Campbell described the threat to the council as “existential” and said residents would ultimately pay the price through service cuts and council tax rises.
“This Council has consistently opposed Fairer Funding,” she wrote. “I believe that it is both unfair and unreasonable.”
The Conservative-run authority is already developing a multi-million-pound programme of savings, transformation and changes to service levels. But Cllr Campbell said those measures would not be enough to fill the financial black hole.
The council says it is already one of Britain’s leanest local authorities, pointing to its recognition by local government publication The MJ as the country’s most productive council earlier this year.
Its proposed challenge will argue that the funding reforms create a barrier to the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of local people. Cllr Campbell said she wanted to exhaust every possible avenue before imposing cuts and tax increases.
Residents can join the fightback by responding to the Council’s online consultation before it closes on Sunday, 4th October. https://consult.rbkc.gov.uk/communities/fairer-funding-review/
The RBKC council has not yet revealed which services could be cut or how much council tax may rise.
