The Council has revealed that it will use the Sustainable Communities Act (SCA) as its latest tactic to fight the Government’s Fair Funding Review.
The Fair Funding Review sets out the Government’s proposed changes to the way funding is distributed to councils. The Council says that the review would cut Kensington and Chelsea’s funding by more than £100 million over four years – equivalent to more than 40 per cent of its controllable budget.
Nearly 1,500 residents responded, with 90 per cent of them ‘strongly supporting’ the plan to use the SCA to press the Government to reconsider its Fair Funding Review.
Consultation Report results
The SCA gives local authorities a way to put proposals to central government which councils believe would improve the economic, social or environmental wellbeing of their communities. In this case, the council is proposing to use the Act to challenge the Government’s funding proposals.
Cllr Elizabeth Campbell, Leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, said:
“Almost 1,500 people took the time to share their views, and I want to thank every one of them for getting involved. The scale of the response shows just how strongly our residents feel about this issue too, and how important it is that their voices are heard.
“I have been clear from the outset that we must continue to fight for a fairer funding settlement for Kensington and Chelsea. I am not prepared to implement the scale of service cuts and tax rises required without exhausting every avenue first to challenge the Government’s decision.
“We will now look carefully at what people have told us, and I’ll discuss the findings and our proposed next steps with my leadership team before we go back to Government.”
A consortium of councils – Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster and Wandsworth – are working together on the proposed challenge, arguing that the new funding arrangements would place significant pressure on local services and residents.
More details can be found in the Council’s consultation report.
