London borough ‘returns to austerity’ as free sport sessions, council homes and youth bus to be axed

The council’s new Conservative leadership is conducting a spending review but Labour accused them of painting a misleading picture of the borough’s finances

A South London council is set to cut specific schemes to help people with the cost of living and support refugees, with redesigned support measures to be brought forward in September.

Wandsworth Council’s new Tory administration has set out the initial outcomes of a spending review it carried out after taking office in May, aimed at finding savings to tackle financial challenges it faces. The Conservatives said Wandsworth faces a “financial crisis” due to major central funding cuts, along with high levels of planned borrowing and use of reserves under the previous Labour administration.

A report on the spending review said the council is expecting a 40 per cent cut to its core funding from the Government, or £84m a year, by 2030. It has been given the power to raise council tax by more than 4.99 per cent from next year without the usual requirement to hold a referendum due to the local authority funding reforms, which aim to shift more cash towards areas with higher deprivation.

Conservative councillor Peter Graham, Cabinet Member for Finance, told a meeting of the council on Wednesday night (July 22) the authority aimed to cut wasteful spending, find savings, limit impact on residents’ bills and protect services that mattered most.

Councillor Graham said the council would end Labour’s specific Access for All scheme, providing discounts on sports, leisure, education and other services to help people with the cost of living, instead designing a new concessions scheme to be brought forward in September. Access for All provides free gym and leisure centre memberships, free tickets to Tooting Beck Lido and discounted hiring of sports pitches.

He said the authority would cancel its Borough of Sanctuary programme and accreditation, agreed in 2022, and provide information on how it would support refugees going forward with a “generous and supportive policy” in September.

The council is also set to overhaul cost-of-living help it provides to residents, with support measures to be brought under the Government’s new Crisis and Resilience Fund.

The council plans to cancel the ringfencing of funds allocated to Labour’s Access for All, cost of living and Borough of Sanctuary schemes and return remaining balances to general reserves, pending a review of these programmes.

No new council homes on estate

The council is also axing plans to build new council homes on the Lennox estate in Roehampton and Ashburton estate in Putney due to opposition from residents. It is cancelling three smaller schemes, on Tyneham Close, Lavender Hill and the Fitzhugh Estate, as Councillor Graham said officers had advised they were not viable.

He said cancelling these five schemes would avoid roughly £77m in future borrowing costs and £5m a year in debt.

The authority is set to axe the youth bus serving the Alton Estate in Roehampton, transferring the equipment into a youth centre, to save an estimated £90,000 a year.

Councillor Graham said the council would disband the leader’s office of six full-time staff, set up by Labour, which would save taxpayers more than £1m a year.

The council is also set to sell the Bradstow School site, in Kent, which shut in December, to save on maintenance costs.

Councillor Graham said the authority would move from “waste to value for money” by focussing on residents’ priorities – including improved pressure washing, graffiti removal, waste disposal and enforcement in busy areas – along with aiming to fund 24 extra police officers to patrol the borough.

‘Wrong to take this austerity approach’

Labour councillor Simon Hogg, who led the previous administration, said the Tories’ approach targeted the “most vulnerable” and lacked consultation.

Councillor Hogg, now leader of the opposition, said the Conservatives had made “plainly misleading” statements about the council’s finances, adding the authority had high levels of reserves and no external debt.

He said: “Wandsworth Labour set balanced budgets and kept council tax low when we ran the council, and we had solid plans to do so again in line with our values. We would have covered the loss of government income through greater efficiency, more growth, smart partnerships and prudent use of reserves.

“The Conservatives are wrong to try to take this austerity approach, cutting frontline services, cancelling investment, firing staff and putting up council tax.”

He added: “We have here in Wandsworth the resources to solve any challenge that the borough faces, so let’s find genuinely innovative ways to maintain both sound financial management and improved life for everyone in our borough.”

After the meeting, Councillor Graham said: “The council faces a serious financial challenge that threatens its long-term sustainability. This spending review is about facing the facts, making hard but necessary choices, and ensuring limited resources are focused on the services that matter most to residents, clean streets, community safety, and core neighbourhood services, while protecting the council’s financial resilience for the future.”

Final decisions on the initial outcomes of the spending review will be made in due course. The full outcomes of the review will be presented in September.

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