Council budget consultation
The Council’s budget this year is set in the context of the latest Government’s announcement outlining local authority funding, which is expected to reduce Bromley’s funding by £22.2m per year by 2028/29. This represents a 22 percent reduction in core funding for Bromley by 2028/29 or 28 percent in real terms when factoring in inflation
This latest government announcement comes after years of continued financial challenges across the whole of local government nationally. Council services continue to face significant costs, driven in particular by adult and children’s social care and the costs in providing housing to homeless families.
A total of £121m in net cost increases have been faced by the Council since 2020/21, which is more than two and a half times the size of the current Environment department budget, for comparison.
The projected overall growth /cost pressures on the council have increased by £26m to £33m per annum just since February 2025, leading to £33m in net additional costs to the budget for 2026/27. In addition, inflation is expected to add a further £11m in cost pressures per year to the council.
In addition, the situation for Bromley is made worse by long running disparity in funding for local government, where Inner London boroughs consistently receive proportionally greater funding than Outer London. When Council Tax bills were set last year, Bromley would have received £80.4m more if it received the average Government funding per head for London. Following the Government’s announcement, under the new arrangements Bromley would receive £112m more for 2026/27 with the average Government funding per head. Even with the average settlement per head for Outer London, Bromley would receive an additional £74.7m in 2026/27.
Bromley’s well-managed finances and efficient, low-cost services have given reserves which have allowed Bromley to avoid the worse situation being faced by many councils in recent years. Careful investment decisions have also helped support Bromley’s position with the high performing pension fund an example of how potential costs are being mitigated. Additionally, successful transformation work in recent years has made significant savings by improving the efficiency of service delivery. More than £18m in savings across 84 projects are set to be realised this year under the Council’s transformation programme, which seeks alternative ways to provide services at lower costs while maintaining the high standards that residents deserve.
However, these will still be insufficient to meet the scale of the challenges being faced, with a current projected budget gap of around £43m in 2027/28 increasing to £61m in 2028/29.
Despite the recent Government announcement, Bromley will continue to fight, as it has for many years, for additional funding under a fairer model that would allow the council to manage the financial challenges being faced while maintaining the service levels that residents need and deserve. But in the absence of such support, difficult decisions are now being faced.
It is against this unfortunate context and the limited options available for the budget, that views are being sought from residents about their priorities to help guide this budget-setting process.
Residents are encouraged to read further background to the financial situation before responding to the consultation, which also outlines what has been achieved in Bromley over the last year despite these financial pressures.