Council expects £52 million hit from lockdown

AT a time when council budgets have never been so stretched, London boroughs are having to stump up huge amounts of cash to support residents during lockdown.

And yet much of their income for things like parking and business rates has been slashed at the same time.

Nowhere is this more telling than in the West London borough of Ealing, where council leader Julian Bell has warned the Government numerous times before just how stretched council budgets are becoming.

The impact of coronavirus on Ealing Council could lead to a staggering £52 million hit for the financial year 2020 to 2021.

Calculations by the authority’s chief financial officer led to the multi-million-pound estimate being made due to scaled up spending to respond to the crisis, as well as a loss of income.

Council leader Julian Bell has written to the prime minister urging him not to “betray our communities” and go back on the government’s promise to reimburse councils for their Covid-19 response spending.

The government has allocated two rounds of £1.6 billion of funding to local councils, Ealing has been granted £9m in each announcement.

Cllr Bell said the authority is using its emergency reserves to tackle the pandemic.

He said: “Covid-19 is the biggest challenge we’ve ever faced as a council. We’re pulling out all the stops to keep residents safe, and to support families and businesses through this very difficult time, but councils are already at breaking point after a decade of Tory austerity – Ealing has lost 64p in every pound since 2010.

“Supporting Ealing residents through this crisis requires funding, and we’re using our emergency reserves.

“I’ve written to the prime minister, asking him to ensure his government doesn’t betray our communities and go back on their word to reimburse councils the cost of the coronavirus response, and the impact of the lockdown.

“We didn’t want to have a fight about funding during this crisis, but we can’t allow the government to inflict more cuts on our communities. Ealing Labour has long opposed cuts to council funding and Tory austerity and we certainly won’t stop now.”

In the open letter to Boris Johnson, cllr Bell also warned that many savings planned for this financial year were now in “significant jeopardy”.

According to the council, its biggest loss of income is from retained business rates, council tax, fees and charges, and commercial income.