Our Bromley Magazine

Bromley Council has fought for many years for a fairer funding settlement for residents and we are fast approaching crisis point.

Bromley Council Leader, Councillor Colin Smith set out these challenges in the Our Bromley magazine December 2024 Issue, which was delivered to every Bromley household.

“Have you ever thought how Council services are funded? Yes, of course, your Council Tax goes towards paying for services that we all depend on, but Council Tax itself is only part of the story.

Much of the remainder of our budget comes from Central Government funding. Bromley’s ongoing campaign for the reform of the current financial system now spans a quarter of a century, a campaign that must be won because the allocation criteria remain flawed for three main reasons.

• Firstly, because it has always disproportionately funded Inner London at Outer London’s expense.
• Secondly, because the system was further tweaked in 2003/04 to make that bias against Outer London even worse.
• Thirdly, because successive Governments since that time have continued to duck the difficult question of Local Government Funding reform.

As a result, we are witnessing Boroughs across the Outer London belt, increasingly struggle to balance their books and a number are set to fail completely because the disparity in funding between Inner and Outer London has now become unmanageable.

If Bromley were to get an average share of London’s funding it would provide us with an additional £53.7 million each year and the problem would disappear.”

Government funding comparison

Bromley’s funding compared to Bromley’s core funding for 2024/25 compared to other London councils was outlined in a bar chart in the magazine article, showing Bromley with the second lowest per person funding of 32 boroughs. A line chart also showed Bromley’s settlement funding per head over time compared to the London average from 19997/98 to 202425. Bromley had consistently lower funding throughout compared to the average for London and even to Outer London, with the Inner London average being further still above Bromley and the other averages.

“The cumulative loss to Bromley over the years has topped in excess of £1.3 billion even using today’s lower figure for illustrative purposes.

Amazingly, despite all of these challenges, Bromley Council has thrived hitherto by becoming the most cost-efficient Council in London and by bearing down relentlessly on cost and driving efficiency at every turn. Sadly, even that isn’t going to be enough moving forward.

Broken beyond repair

There is widespread agreement that the current system of Local Government funding is broken beyond repair and needs to be replaced by a fairer funding model which fundamentally addresses the financial disparity between the 32 London Boroughs. The longstanding problem, ignored by consecutive Governments for far too long, has now reached crisis point, posing serious threats to vital public services set in place to protect our Borough’s most vulnerable residents.

Bromley only remains amongst those best placed to survive the impending financial storm thanks to years of careful planning and marshalling of its reserves. However, even Bromley will struggle to set a balanced budget by 2028 on current projections and the conclusion is inescapable. Urgent change to the current system is essential.

Bromley’s residents deserve fairer funding

In summary, Bromley’s residents have long since deserved far fairer funding and better treatment from Central Government and that remains the simple key message which Bromley Council is continuing to press upon key decision makers.”