EFFICIENT councils are being penalised by central government, according to the leader of Wokingham Borough Council (WBC).

Cllr Charlotte Haitham Taylor made the comments after visiting the local government minister, Rishi Sunak MP with two local MPs to highlight the financial difficulties currently facing the borough.

The group, which also included Wokingham MP John Redwood and Bracknell MP Dr Phillip Lee, took their message to Westminster on Tuesday, March 13 in a bid to increase the council’s funding from central government.

Cllr Haitham Taylor said: “I want to thank our local MPs John Redwood and Phillip Lee for supporting us at our meeting with the local government minister, as well as Theresa May for helping us in the direction of raising our concerns with the department. 

“We spoke to the minister about the difficult financial position we face, with no main government grant coming to the council in future, and the pressures in adults’ and children’s social care. We also pointed out that the money being provided by the government does not reflect how much it actually costs the council to provide services to residents. The formula to calculate the government grant actually penalises those councils, like Wokingham Borough, that are efficient and save taxpayers’ money. 

“Importantly, our approach was not just to go to the minister with problems, but also come along with solutions. These included ways to use government grants to encourage councils to come up with innovative methods to deliver services whilst saving residents’ money. We are keen to be a leader for self-sufficiency and high performance in local government. 

“It was a positive dialogue, and we will be meeting with the minister again in a couple of months to discuss further options on addressing our concerns. In the meantime, we have responded to a government consultation on local government funding, and conversations will continue in the coming weeks.”