Wandsworth Joins Other Boroughs in Challenge to Funding Cuts
Four councils have formally presented alternative proposals to the Treasury
London council leaders Robert Morritt, Elizabeth Campbell, Paul Swaddle and Gareth Roberts in Parliament Square. Picture: Mickey Lee/Wandsworth Council
October 23, 2026
Wandsworth Council’s leader has joined his counterparts in other boroughs in formally submitting a challenge to Government reforms that are set to see their central funding slashed by up to nearly 60 per cent. Richmond, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster councils, along with Wandsworth, delivered revised funding proposals to the Treasury this Thursday morning (22 October), urging the Government to rethink its overhaul of local authority funding rules.
Tory-led Wandsworth Council said the Government’s reforms will see its central funding slashed by £84million a year, or 40 per cent, by 2030. The changes, known as the Fair Funding Review 2.0, aim to shift more cash towards areas with higher deprivation.
But Wandsworth’s administration said the reforms will force it to slash services and raise council tax.
The authority is proposing to raise council tax by 94 per cent from April, in addition to making sweeping cuts – including shutting its cost-of-living reserve with £6.2m of unspent funds, replacing Labour’s Access for All with a much smaller concessionary scheme, cancelling its Borough of Sanctuary status and suspending voluntary sector grants for four years.
Kensington and Chelsea is set to lose £108m, or more than 40 per cent, of its central funding over the next four years under the reforms, while Westminster is due to see these resources drop by around £100m, or 46 per cent. Richmond is set to be stripped of £26m, or 58 per cent, of its core funding by 2030.
Thousands of residents responded to consultations asking for feedback on the councils’ plans to challenge the reforms, which they said they are pressing ahead with to protect vital services.
The authorities have now formally submitted their revised funding proposals, under the Sustainable Communities Act, asking the Government to reconsider its decision.
Conservative Wandsworth Council leader Robert Morritt said: “Residents should not have to pick up the bill for changes imposed by Whitehall. This proposal takes our case directly to Government.
“We are using every route available to fight for a fairer deal and protect Wandsworth taxpayers.”
Lib Dem Richmond council leader Gareth Roberts said the cuts risk “pushing this council towards a financial cliff edge”.
He said: “We will not stand by while Whitehall forces our residents to pay the price for a deeply flawed formula. We are taking this fight directly to Government and using every route available to demand a settlement that protects services and gives Richmond a fair deal.”
Tory Kensington and Chelsea council leader Elizabeth Campbell added: “I will use every tool at my disposal to fight these cuts, stand up for our residents and secure the fair deal our borough deserves.”
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson previously said: “We have consulted extensively on reforming the outdated council funding system to ensure money goes where it is most needed, following on from a long-standing consensus.
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