Leader Responds to Government’s Fair Funding Settlement

Today's settlement gives some much-needed clarity on the future of our finances after years of uncertainly and short-term planning by previous governments. I'm particularly pleased to see that the government have listened to what we’ve been telling them about the challenges we face in central London in relation to housing costs. Whilst this settlement will require us to make some tough financial decisions, I believe our response to the consultation has been listened to and our concerns have been taken into account.

We responded in detail to the Fair Funding consultation earlier this year – we worked with other councils, and we pressed our case at the highest level of government to get the fairest deal for Camden residents. We made our case carefully and effectively and I believe it has made a difference.

Remarkably, this the first time in seven years that we've had a multi-year settlement from central government, something that inherently and obviously makes it easier for us to plan and invest at a local level and in a way that secures and delivers the services that are relied on by our residents. I hope this approach will continue long into the future.

I also welcome the simplification to the grant structure which make the management of money and the deployment to services and communities much more straightforward. Both changes give us more certainty, something our communities can benefit from too as we work with them to make Camden the best place it can be.

For us now it’s a case of crunching the numbers in more detail and getting to work to deliver the very best for our residents.