Savings are needed

We know Council Tax has been going up and that it is a burden to households, but the funding we get from Central Government has been going down while the cost of providing the services the community needs is increasing.

Council Tax pays for more than 80 per cent of our day-to-day services, compared to a national average for councils of about 50 per cent.

Wokingham Borough Council’s taxpayers are having to pay more for less compared to other areas  because we get less government support and so are more reliant on local taxpayers. 

Low Government funding

We receive about £30million a year less from the government than the average local authority – that works out at about £400 less per household each year.

This is due to the way the government decides how much each council gets, which is based mainly on deprivation (areas of low income), rather than what councils actually need to provide their services.

The Government does not factor in some of the highest cost areas such as supporting children with special educational needs or helping adults who have physical disabilities or learning difficulties. 

These are not linked to deprivation and so are not considered properly by the government.

Increasing costs (inflation)

We all know that the cost of almost everything has gone up in recent years and the things the council has to pay for have been particularly badly hit by this. 

And just because the speed at which prices are increasing has slowed (the rate of inflation has dropped) it does not mean prices are returning to the levels they were before.

High inflation caused real cost increases to the council of about £10.8million last year.

Increasing needs in the community

The problems caused by inflation are made more difficult because more people in the borough have care needs that the council must meet.

These include children with Special Educational Needs, children in care and adults with learning difficulties or physical disabilities. The needs residents have are also becoming more complex.

It’s right and vital to meet these needs, even if the government does not factor the volume of them into the level of funding it provides us. The additional cost of providing these services this year is about £9.7million.