Kensington and Chelsea Council says 1,499 people responded to its consultation on whether the authority should use the Sustainable Communities Act to press the Government to reconsider its Fair Funding review. Of those who took part, 90 per cent strongly supported the proposed challenge and a further three per cent supported it.
The consultation ran from 2 September to 4 October. Its result, published on 6 October, records the views of respondents; it is not a poll of every resident in the borough. The council asked whether it should invoke the Act as a route for putting a proposal to central government.
What respondents prioritised
The council says a majority of respondents identified retaining a greater share of money raised locally as their top priority. The examples given include business rates, stamp duty and income tax. The result therefore combines support for challenging the funding changes with a stated preference about how local revenue should be treated.
The authority estimates the proposed funding changes could leave Kensington and Chelsea more than £100 million worse off over four years. It says that would amount to more than 40 per cent of its controllable budget. Those figures are the council’s projection of the effect of the changes, not a settled loss or a final decision by the Government on the borough’s funding.
The Fair Funding review changes the way government funding is distributed between councils. Kensington and Chelsea has argued that the proposed formula would disadvantage it. The consultation asked residents specifically whether the council should use the Sustainable Communities Act to ask ministers to reconsider the review, rather than asking them to determine the final funding arrangements.
Next steps remain undecided
The council says it will analyse the responses in detail. Council leader Elizabeth Campbell is scheduled to discuss the findings and proposed next steps with her leadership team on 13 October, before the authority returns to the Government. The announcement does not state what action the leadership will choose, or whether the Government will reconsider its approach.
The Sustainable Communities Act provides councils with a formal means of putting proposals to central government where they consider changes are needed to improve the economic, social or environmental wellbeing of their communities. The consultation concerned whether to use that route in relation to the funding review. A decision to make a proposal would be an act of advocacy by the council, not itself a change to the funding settlement.
Kensington and Chelsea has also been working with Westminster and Wandsworth councils to explore a challenge to the funding arrangements. The latest consultation announcement, however, reports the Kensington and Chelsea response count and its own proposed next steps. It does not set out a joint decision by the three authorities or confirm any Government response.
The figures show strong support among those who submitted responses for the council’s proposal: 93 per cent either strongly supported or supported it. The distinction between the two response categories is retained in the published result. The remaining respondents are not characterised here beyond the council’s stated percentages.
For now, the immediate procedural step is the leadership discussion scheduled for 13 October. Until that discussion and any subsequent approach to ministers, the result establishes the consultation response but not a final council decision to proceed, a change in funding, or a realised budget impact.
