18 February (Part 1) - Was the Leader right to blame only Covid and Government funding for Bexley’s financial woes?
The Radio London interview proved to be a little divisive.
Only a little; just one Twitter user backed the Leader’s excuses.
Can it be true that Bexley’s woes are purely down to Covid and poor levels of Government
funding making the borough a unique case (the Council Leader’s defence) or were
the finances heading towards the rocks anyway as suggested by the interviewer?
Does Bexley really get the worst deal in London from Government grants? You won’t
find the truth on Bexley’s website, for that you have to keep an eye elsewhere.
The graphic shown here (click for a more detailed version) comes from Bromley
and shows Havering, Kingston-upon-Thames, Bromley and Richmond all having a worse per capita deal than Bexley.
It is true that Greenwich gets three times as much money as Bexley but our
Council knows that, they have been complaining about it for the last decade at
least and it cannot be a financial surprise. The Council budgets for it, or at least they
should. It isn’t fair and it is what causes
Bexley’s Council Tax rate to be higher than most.
The Conservative Government has done nothing to dig their Bexley friends out of trouble.
Vanessa Feltz suggested that Bexley’s problems predated Covid which is what the
Council Leader is so very anxious to deny.
The fact is that year on year Bexley has raided its reserves to the extent that a year ago they were second lowest in London.
See below.
Second lowest reserves in London. (From Greenwich’s website)
But it gets worse. As a percentage of expenditure Bexley occupies bottom place.
Lowest % reserves in London. (From Greenwich’s website)
So what was Bexley itself saying a year ago, before Covid struck?
Budget statement 25th February 2020. (Click image to see it all.)
Above, the Finance Director’s cry for help! Below, his warning.
