Responding to yesterday’s government announcement setting out the new funding settlement for local councils, Leader of Hertsmere Council Cllr Jeremy Newmark said:

“This settlement fails to deliver enough funding to meet the severe cost and demand pressures which have left councils warning of the serious challenges they face to set balanced budgets. Councils in England face a funding gap of £4 billion over the next two years. This announcement will not change that funding gap this year or next. The funding uplift announced by the Government assumes that all councils will increase their council tax bills by the maximum allowed in 2024/25 which means councils are again left facing the difficult choice about raising bills to bring in desperately needed funding. This will also leave hard working families to pick up the tab with higher council tax and local services cut to the bone. The conservative government crashed the economy yet they are forcing council tax payers to pay the prices.

I’m appalled that government has not provided desperately-needed new funding for local services in 2024/25. This means the local services our communities rely on every day are now exposed to further cuts. Demand for crucial services provided by councils – such as homelessness support is rising, and inflationary pressures are increasing costs for councils. This has left councils facing a perfect storm of rising demand and costs – all following thirteen years of continued cuts to council finances.

Hertsmere has suffered particularly badly in this provisional settlement. Our own provisional figures are lower than expected. This is because the government has made incorrect assumptions about our council tax base leading to a significant reduction in our core spending power. We will be raising concerns at the highest level.

The Government urgently needs to address the growing financial crisis facing councils and come up with a long-term plan to sufficiently fund local services through multi-year settlements. Your Hertsmere Labour councillors will continue to work hard to deliver for their communities despite these financial challenges.”