Fair Funding 2.0 is an attack on London – and the whole country will suffer as a result
A supermarket in North Kensington (Matt Crossick/Alamy)
4 min read
It is a common refrain in local government to bemoan a lack of funding, unfunded new burdens, or incoherent policymaking from Westminster.
And I will be the first to admit that the Conservatives were not immune to this when we were in government. Central government, of any colour, has a habit of thinking short term, delegating difficult decisions to councils, or avoiding them altogether. Directing funding to the wrong places, and too often allowing politics to trump pragmatism.
So, you might not immediately feel much sympathy when I tell you that Kensington and Chelsea, alongside our inner London neighbours, is facing an existential threat because of this government. But I would ask you to hear me out.
Last year, the government announced Fair Funding 2.0. The aim was bold and noble, to direct funding to the areas of greatest need. The previous formula was outdated and reform was overdue. On that, we agreed.
Inner London has some of the highest deprivation in the country, something only made worse by the housing crisis of recent years. More people than ever before are now homeless, with London councils’ figures suggesting that at least one child in every classroom is in temporary accommodation. As an inner London council leader, it was clear to me where some of the greatest need lay, right here.
The government, I’m afraid, did not agree. In fact, its conclusion could not have been more different. Under the auspices of Fair Funding, they pursued the selective defunding of central London. Money was taken from us and our neighbours and delivered to their voters in the red wall on whose votes they rode to Downing Street.
Here in Kensington and Chelsea, our controllable budget has been reduced by nearly 50 per cent. That is £108m taken from us over the next four years. For our residents, this means cuts to services. Cuts likely to fall hardest on the most vulnerable, the very people the government claim they are trying to help.
It will also mean higher taxes; indeed, the government actually baked a major council tax rise into their formula.
We are a resilient council. That financial resilience is no accident. It has been built on years of prioritising the delivery of efficient, effective and resident focused services. We understand the value of the council tax our residents pay, and we know they expect excellent public services in return.
The question the government should have asked is: what can we learn from councils like ours? How do they keep taxes low while delivering services that are genuinely nation leading?
Local government is everything that central government too often is not. We make the difficult decisions. We are fiscally responsible. And we are relentless in our focus on protecting those who need our help most.
Fair Funding is central government at its worst: policymaking driven by politics, rather than by what is right. Hijacking a laudable aim of making the country fairer just to redirect funding to their ideological heartlands. But it is also something else: a direct attack on our capital city.
London is one of the only net contributors to the national tax base. It welcomes millions of visitors every year. It is a true global city that competes with Paris, Milan and New York for talent, investment and attention.
Local government is everything that central government too often is not. We make the difficult decisions
With these cuts, that will be harder to guarantee. And when London suffers, the whole country feels it.
Local democracy rests on a simple principle: that local people, through their elected representatives, make decisions for their local area. These cynical changes hollow that out – stripping councils of the resources and the autonomy to serve the communities that elected them.
For London’s residents, the homeless child in temporary accommodation, the elderly person depending on our services, Fair Funding is anything but fair.
A government that truly wants to rebuild the communities of this country should understand one simple truth: you cannot do it by pushing London down.
Elizabeth Campbell is the Conservative leader of Kensington and Chelsea council
