Wiltshire Council 'disappointed' over 2025/6 funding
The amount of cash they're to get from the Government is going up - but not by as much as other rural local authorities
Wiltshire Council say they are 'disappointed' at the provisional local government finance settlement, which is the amount of funding the council will receive from Westminster in 2025/6.
Wiltshire Council has seen an increase of 4.3% in its Core Spending Power, which is the amount the government assesses the council needs in funding.
Compared to similar large rural unitary and county councils, this figure is lower than the average increase, which, according to Wiltshire Council, stands at 5.6% - which all assume that council tax rises by 4.99%.
Wiltshire Council say the government had previously confirmed that grants such as the Rural Services Delivery Grant and the Services Grant will be 'repurposed' and the council is not receiving funding through these new grants.
However, it's been confirmed that local authorities can continue to increase council tax in 2025/26 by 3% and a further 2% solely to support adult care services.
'Extremely disappointed'
Cllr Richard Clewer, Leader of Wiltshire Council, said: "Although we are extremely disappointed with the provisional local government finance settlement, we are not surprised. We work tirelessly at Wiltshire Council and plan ahead so that we can be as self-sufficient as possible. The new Government has demonstrated a complete lack of understanding of the challenges faced by rural areas, treating them as places to build in rather than communities to support, this reduction in funding is just another facet of that.
"If we were over-reliant on government funding and always assumed that we'd get a certain amount then that might put us in a tricky spot. However, we have a long-term preventative approach, that should any unforeseen issues emerge then we are well equipped to deal with them.
"Having said that, we were particularly disappointed on the recent news that the Rural Services Delivery Grant will be removed, a grant designed to support the 20% most rural authorities in England in delivering services that are made more expensive by the extra travel time to move between our many villages.
"Like many other councils we are still facing huge challenges, such as increasing costs and demand for adult and children social care services, and the continued unpredictable nature of inflation and impact of government policy changes such as the changes to National Insurance which is not covered by government funding in most areas, and what that will mean for our suppliers and providers. Therefore, we will continue to keep a forensic eye on our finances and monitor our situation prudently, robustly and in a transparent way.
"During the Autumn budget, the government assured councils that the impact of the changes to Employers National Insurance would be fully compensated for directly employed staff. This is now known not to be the case, for example they have missed off Housing Revenue Account Staff for example along with Public Health Staff. There could be up to £2m additional cost that the council has to bear and could impact local services if the council did not take its strong approach to managing the financial position of the council. We are calling on government to sort this out as soon as possible.
"Should any additional government funding become available through additional grants and new projects and initiatives, then we will robustly bid for them if we felt they were in the best interest of the county. We note the confirmation of the council tax arrangements and are currently in the process of finalising our budget proposals for 2025/26, which will be published early in the new year. It is very clear that this local government settlement is designed to force rural local authorities to increase council tax in the wake of massive cuts to our funding.
"Despite the challenges, we remain an ambitious council and will continue to look at all opportunities to invest in the future of our county - and that's evident by the significant money we've recently spent on areas such as our highways, leisure services and enforcement."
'No council will see a reduction in core spending power'
There is now a government consultation on the provisional settlement which will run for four weeks, closing on 23:49 on 15 January 2025. The government will provide confirmation of the final local government finance settlement in early 2025, once the consultation has closed and all responses have been considered.
Responding to questions in the Commons, local government minister Jim McMahon said: "No council, when taking into account council tax, will see a reduction in their core spending power."
He added that the Government was "covering national insurance contributions" and "funding an extra £880 million through the social care grant, so we have heard representations through the sector, but we aren't saying that all this will fix everything today, it can't".
Mr McMahon continued: "You know, we're less than six months into the new Government and we've got 14 years to reconcile."
Louise Gittins, Labour chairwoman of the Local Government Association (LGA), said councils of all types will continue to struggle to balance their budgets next year, with "desperately needed" council rises not enough to prevent cuts to services.
She added that the national insurance support will fall short of the estimated £637 million the changes will cost councils next year.
Ms Gittins said: "Different councils will have contrasting views about the Government's use of a different method to allocate some additional funding next year.
"It is vital that all views are considered, and the Government ensures all councils have adequate resources next year to provide the services their communities rely on every day and can meet growing and complex cost and demand pressures."