Leading councillors from across the chamber have had their say on fair funding for the Isle of Wight.
The leader of the Isle of Wight Council has asked the government to ‘urgently’ enter discussions with County Hall regarding ‘unique financial support’.
Councillor Phil Jordan warned without intervention County Hall will be unable to set a balanced budget and said his authority faces a ‘uniquely unsustainable’ financial position.
This, he said, was made worse by Whitehall’s Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS) and Fair Funding Review, in a letter to Minister Alison McGovern MP.
The LGFS determines the funding of local government from central government.
In June last year, the government published a consultation titled the Fair Funding Review 2.0 which proposed major changes to the grant funding system for English local authorities.
Minister McGovern wrote to English council leaders this week, announcing the final LGFS for 2026 – 29.
She said the multi-year settlement is the culmination of a significant reform programme ‘transforming fragmented funding streams, updating data that is decades out of date and finally aligning funding with need and deprivation’.
Around £78 billion is being made available for English councils through the final LGFS and the government has said councils most in need will have more money to bring back clean streets, fill potholes and restore local services via an extra £440 million funding boost.
But Alliance group leader Cllr Jordan told the Minister the Isle of Wight Council is ‘materially worse off’ because of the Fair Funding Review and three-year settlement.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS):
“We are an Island and as an island we pay more to deliver the same services as our comparative neighbouring councils. Around £24m more a year.
Article continues below this advertisement “We have evidenced this to government for many years. Instead of recognising this and funding us correctly the opposite has happened.”
Cllr Jordan said government has cut County Hall’s funding since 2010 to the extent that it now has roughly £100 million a year less than it had 16 years ago.
Referring to less income and more spending due to costs, inflation and demand for services, he said the council was “at the end of the financial road” and added Whitehall needed to intervene without further delay.
He said the authority has managed its finances “very prudently”, significantly reducing any new borrowings to nearly zero and substantially lowering the loan burden over the past 5 years.
“We have only spent where it was necessary or could not be avoided,” Cllr Jordan added.
Cllr Ed Blake, Conservative group leader, said:
“The independent and Green Alliance, backed by the Liberal Democrats and Labour members, have raised council tax by the full 4.99 per cent allowed every year since they came into power.
“Over the same period inflation has run at about 2.6 per cent averagely per year. During that time, they have squandered most of the £35m of general and Covid reserves left by the Conservative administration on funding overspends rather than investing in efficiencies.
“They have overseen ongoing cuts including the whole Regeneration Department which should be there to create jobs, opportunities, and funding to Islanders. This twinned with the cut in funding from the Labour government has left the Island in a diabolical situation.”
Empowering Islanders group leader Cllr Chris Jarman told the LDRS:
“Empowering Islanders group have consistently called for a proper government response to our exceptional circumstances and for the transparency of Isle of Wight Council finances that must accompany it.
“Islanders do not want theatrics or grandstanding. They want a sustainable solution that protects essential services and stops residents being treated as an easy cash machine with year-on-year council tax rises and fee increases but with little or no benefit to show for it.
“The Island pays materially more to deliver the same statutory services because we cannot easily share infrastructure, workforces, or specialist provision with neighbouring authorities.
“If central government’s funding settlement does not sufficiently account for this, then it is government policy that has created the crisis.”
Cllr Andrew Garratt, who leads the Liberal Democrats, said Cllr Jordan’s letter to government “could not be clearer”. He said:
“The government’s Fair Funding Review has not been fair to the Isle of Wight. It does not properly recognise our unique circumstances. Furthermore, the methodology appears to penalise the Isle of Wight Council for prudent financial management.
“The financial challenges we now face are not of our making. They are the result of a government funding formula that fails to reflect the real cost of delivering services on the Island. The government’s settlement leaves us with a gap we cannot close through efficiency savings and council tax increases alone.”
He added Ministers must recognise the Island’s unique position and provide fair funding not just this year but in the years ahead.
Leader of the Very Broad Church group Cllr Geoff Brodie said:
“An excellent letter by the leader. Of course, it will also add to the case for government to merge us with a mainland authority. Something we remain convinced is the only way forward for this local authority.”
Surprise, surprise: the only break in cross-party solidarity here, about successive Governments failing to recognise the Island’s particular circumstances, from the whingeing Conservative voice, choosing instead to apportion blame. Don’t worry: we know where the rot of cutting services to the bone, in the name of ‘austerity’. started, and it’s not with the current Council, trying its best under impossible circumstances.