"Smoke and mirrors": Broxtowe Council leader criticises Government financial settlement
The leader of Broxtowe Council says the money given to his authority by the Government is ‘a cut in real terms’.
Councils across the country were awarded a funding settlement by the Government each year, but the system was criticised by political leaders due to their inability to manage finances more effectively over the longer term.
Now, the Labour Government has awarded local authorities ‘multi-year settlements’ covering a three-year period up to, and including, the 2028-29 financial year.
By the end of this multi-year settlement period, Labour says councils across the country will have received an increase of over 23 per cent in their core spending power compared to the 2024-25 financial year.
Unitary councils, such as Nottingham City Council, and upper tier authorities, such as Nottinghamshire County Council, receive more money than district and borough councils from the Government due to their responsibility for more complex services, such as adult social care and children’s services.
In 2026-27, the government is giving Broxtowe £7.8m, dropping to £7.2m in 2027-28 before a further fall to £6.5m in 2028-29.
And Coun Milan Radulovic (Brox All), Broxtowe Council has called his authority’s multi-year settlement ‘all smoke and mirrors’.
He said: “What the Government have done is take lots of the separate grants done by previous Governments and consolidated that into a settlement that looks far better than it is.”
But the same settlement documents show if the borough council increases council tax by its maximum of 2.99 per cent in 2026-27, 2027-28 and 2028-29, then it is predicted to raise £7.2m, £7.4m and £7.7m each year respectively.
When combining the money given by Government and the projected money raised through council tax, authorities then have their core spending power.
Based on these figures, the core spending power for Broxtowe Council in 2026-27 is £15.8m which is up from £15.4m in the current 2025-26 financial year, reflecting a 2.6 per cent uplift.
For the 2027-28 and 2028-29 financial years, the core spending power rises to £15.9m, which is around 3.3 per cent more money than the current financial year.
This effectively means the council’s core spending power increase is relying more on a predicted council tax increase rather than money provided from Government – the council has not yet confirmed how much they will be raising council tax by in the next financial year.
Coun Radulovic says the pot of money for the next financial year is ‘below the rate of inflation’ and is a ‘cut in real terms’.
The rate of inflation in November 2025 was measured at 3.2 per cent.
In a Facebook post, one of the area’s MPs, Eastwood’s Juliet Campbell (Lab) said: “Broxtowe Council will get an extra £1.1m to its core spending power over this Parliament, unlike under the Tory settlement when Broxtowe saw a decrease of £2.3m.”
But Coun Radulovic, responding to the Ms Campbell’s comment, said: “It’s simply not true.
"It’s rolled up grants, Government settlements are always a farce.”
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “We will make almost £78bn available for council finances this year and will fix the outdated and unfair funding system we inherited.
“This includes £15.9m for Broxtowe Council by 2028-29, so they can deliver the high-quality public services local people need.”