Dudley finance boss accuses Labour of 'gaslighting' over government funding settlement
Dudley Council’s finance chief blasted Labour for "gaslighting" during a blistering attack on MPs’ claims the council was getting a £76 million boost.
During a meeting of the authority’s cabinet on Wednesday (January 14), Councillor Steve Clark presented his financial plan until 2029 based on the government’s draft fair funding settlement.
Before Christmas Labour MPs hailed the settlement as a 22 per cent increase in spending power for Dudley - but the borough’s ruling Conservatives are not on the same page.
Councillor Clark, Dudley cabinet member for finance, told Labour councillors: “We have had an exceptionally poor settlement; your MPs announcing £76m of extra funding was a master class in financial gaslighting.
“Whether it be deliberate deception, political spin, creative accounting or double accounting – it’s a manipulation.”
He explained the figure of £76m extra includes the 2024/25 financial year which is not part of the council’s current budget while Labour’s claims also include a full 4.99 per cent increase in council tax – which had already been built into the council’s plans.
After dismissing Labour’s arguement as ‘complete nonsense’, Councillor Clark added: “We are left with a total settlement of £7m over three years – we were expecting £18m.”
A report from Lisa Kitto, Dudley’s chief finance officer, included an analysis of Dudley’s core spending power showing the authority had £343m to spend in 2024/25 which will rise to £419m by 2028/29.
While the figures indicate a rise of 22 per cent from the 24/25 year, the increase in 2028/29 on the current 2025/26 year is 11.7 per cent.
The calculations show Dudley will have £394m to pay for services in the next financial year which will start in April, an increase of five per cent on the current 25/26 year.
Labour’s finance spokesperson, Councillor Shaukat Ali, came to the defence of his colleagues in London.
He said: “You only need to go back a few years to see how much was cut by the Conservative government – over £120m from this borough.
“You have got to look at it in the context of that.”
Council leader Councillor Patrick Harley said: “If we had £70m more I may well be putting pressure on officers to say ‘let’s not increase council tax by five per cent for the next three years’ but we can’t do that.”
