Dispute between Aylesbury Vale MPs and council leader over Autumn Budget continues

Councillor Martin Tett, the leader of Bucks Council, has written to Callum Anderson, Buckingham’s MP, in response to the joint letter the politician penned alongside the county’s other Labour MPs.

Anderson, alongside Wycombe MP Emma Reynolds and Laura Kyrke-Smith Aylesbury’s new Parliamentary representative, urged the council to support the new Government when it implements its Autumn Budget.

On Tuesday (12 November), the council leader posted an open letter in response to the one he received, highlighting urgent concerns he still has with how council budgets will be allocated by the new Government.

Councillor Tett pointed out his letter that the Local Government Association has said local authorities face “a precarious short and long term future”, despite also calling chancellor Rachel Reeves’s budget a “step in the right direction”.

Whilst acknowledging that the £1 billion uplift in funding mentioned in the MPs’ letter was welcomed, Councillor Tett has said it does not meet the need identified by councils and the LGA. He also raised concerns about how the funding would be allocated.

Councillor Tett questioned whether increases in ‘core spending power’ mentioned in the budget, which will rise by 3.2%, will lead to greater funds for councils. He said: “Core Spending assumes that councils increase their council tax by the maximum possible.”

Bucks Council has done this in three consecutive years, but the councillor did not indicate whether that will happen again in 2025.

He noted the £500 million pothole fund that was championed by the Bucks MPs, but said it was unclear how much of that kitty would be made available to his council. Councillor Tett wrote: “We need to urgently know the overall capital and revenue allocation to Buckinghamshire for roads next year and again would

welcome your help in clarifying these figures with government as soon as possible.”

Councillor Tett also noted that the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) has dipped from the £1.5 billion allocated for the next financial year to £900 million. He also raised concerns with rumours that the Multiply adult numeracy scheme will be discontinued, which Bucks Council put towards its Opportunity Bucks projects.

He also raised concerns with how the council will fund its education and children’s social care responsibilities based on this budget, noting that the council’s deficit in this department has risen from £1.5 million to over £10 million. He said: “This is an existential issue for councils and risks very many councils becoming effectively ‘bankrupt’.”

Also, the council leader reiterated his concerns with the raise in Employers’ National Insurance and the National Living Wage, saying the move would cost the authority more money each year. Calculations from the councillor show that it would cost the council an additional £6.5 million as 68% of work authorised by the council is carried out by independent companies.

He also believes the council will face extra pressures as a result of the Government’s plans to tax independent schools. It is anticipated that parents will pull their children out of these fee-paying schools once the changes are introduced. Councillor Tett said the financial impact of the change is still being assessed by the authority.