‘London’s streets aren’t paved with gold. Cuts would hit the poorest the hardest’

Local authorities in London have an immense impact on the prosperity and wellbeing of the capital. We keep the streets clean, help people into good well-paid jobs, deliver vital local services, build councils homes and provide financial support to people who need it most. However, councils’ ability to keep providing those services is at risk. 

After 14 years of cuts to council budgets, the finances of many local authorities are already near breaking point. Councils have been finding savings and cuts year-on-year since 2010. But Fair Funding Review 2.0 would further reduce spending power by around £700 million, with the vast majority of potential cuts affecting inner London councils. 

We support the principle of reform of local government funding and matching resource to need, but we are concerned that the current proposals significantly underestimate the level of need in London.

These cuts would hit the poorest in our city the hardest, making it harder to provide family support services for lower-income parents, Council Tax support for working people struggling to make ends meet and to deliver the Government’s new Best Start programme.

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Additionally, these cuts would weaken councils’ ability to provide the services that drive economic growth in London, and as a result across the country. Keeping the streets clean and safe so that tourists and residents enjoy a welcoming city, supporting new local businesses to thrive and delivering high-class employment programmes that tackle inactivity and bridge skills gaps. 

While previous governments and some popular commentary have made out that London’s streets are paved with gold, we know that to be far from true. Whilst containing some areas of extreme affluence, London has the highest poverty rate in the country once housing costs are taken into account, with 27% of Londoners living in poverty and one in 50 currently living in temporary accommodation. Those figures are also far higher in inner London, where these changes currently would hit the hardest, with poverty rates above 40% in Camden, Westminster and Tower Hamlets, according to Trust for London. 

Whilst recognising the need for reform and the Government’s desire to increase new investment in areas of need beyond London, any changes that result in a further reduction in funding for boroughs – particularly those with the highest levels of deprivation – risks deepening inequality, undermining public services, and weakening the very communities the Government seeks to support. 

Inner London boroughs are urging the Government to look again at these proposals and ensure that no council loses out in the name of reform.

Central London Forward (CLF) is the partnership of the 12 central London local authorities, working together to support inclusive and sustainable growth so the central London economy thrives, and all residents and communities benefit from the opportunities this creates.

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