Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much the London Borough of Croydon received in total government grant in the last year; and if he will make a statement.

In 2014-15, the London Borough of Croydon is forecast to receive £428 million in government grants, excluding mandatory housing benefits, equivalent to £2,877 per dwelling. Including mandatory housing benefits, the forecast is £693 million (source: Revenue Account budget returns). The Greater London Authority also delivers services (police, fire, transport, strategic housing and planning) in Croydon, and is forecast to receive £4.5 billion in government grants in 2014-15, equivalent to £1,311 per dwelling. Taken together, this is equivalent to £4,189 per dwelling in Croydon.

Leaving aside education spending which has changed due to the funding shift from local authorities to academies directly, in 2014-15 Croydon’s net current expenditure excluding education is forecast to be £546 million (source: Revenue Account budget returns). This compares with £490 million in 2009-10 (source: Revenue Outturn returns). This represents an 11 per cent increase in cash terms.

It has been brought to my attention that the Council has put up posters on council-owned billboards asserting: “Government is cutting its funding to you by £100 million over the next three years”. This is factually incorrect, given no decisions have been made on local government funding beyond 2015-16. Moreover, such polemical publicity is not only potentially contrary to the provisions of the local government Publicity Code, but is in itself a waste of money – the Council could be using its advertising space to sell commercial advertising and generate revenue to support frontline services, rather than peddle political messages.