In the absence of any response from Bexley Council’s Leader, @tonyofsidcup has applied his own accountancy skills to whether or not the Labour Government has increased its grant to Bexley Council. His argument goes like this.
We have three “metrics” in play
• Grant
• Council Tax
• “Core Purchasing Power”, which is Grant + Council Tax
Core Purchasing Power is going up by 6%, assuming a 5% increase in Council Tax. (This is
a very safe assumption - every Council (Tory, Labour and Reform) is raising CT by the
allowed maximum, typically (depending on what services are “in-scope” for the council) 5%).
Grants are going up by 5% (or 2-3% adjusted for inflation).
*No assumptions about CT are needed*.
So to me, Francis is right, Leaf is wrong.
Who will argue otherwise? Not me. And The Council Leader’s silence may well be the ultimate confirmation.
