Cash for local services as details of settlement figure announced
18/12/2025
Banbury’s MP has welcomed the news but the County Council question where the money is coming from
The level of funding coming to Oxfordshire’s councils from next year was provisionally set by the government yesterday.
Banbury’s MP Sean Woodcock has welcomed the news that the county will get a £141.6m cash injection for essential services, but there’s a warning from the county council that they believe the money will come from increases to council tax bills.
The announcement detailed a multi-year settlement – for the first time in a decade giving local authorities details for more than just the next twelve months. The new formula aims to ensure that finances are distributed more closely to where they are needed the most.
The Labour government say that under the Conservatives local authorities were starved of investment, with core spending power down by around a quarter since 2010.
Their solution is ‘Fair Funding’ with over £5 billion of money for local services being distributed across the country over the multi-year settlement period.
Mr Woodcock said: “After 14 years of Tory austerity, Labour is putting money back into our local services.
“This £141.6m cash injection for our area will make a real difference to people’s everyday lives by boosting the services we all rely on. It means more money for our high streets, our libraries, our roads and for cleaner streets.
“The Labour Government is reversing Tory decline and investing in Britain’s renewal.”
But the view from County Hall was less positive. A spokesperson for Oxfordshire County Council told Banbury FM: “The council’s finance experts will work over coming weeks to fully establish the impact of the local government settlement on budgets for 2026/7 and beyond. The formula for judging how much individual councils receive in grant funding has been substantially changed. Essentially, funding is being diverted away from areas like Oxfordshire to parts of the country with higher levels of deprivation. As such the picture is likely to be challenging, especially in later years.
“The government has announced that Oxfordshire’s income will increase by £141m, but it has also assumed that there will be a Council tax increase of 4.99% in Council Tax in each of the next three years paid by Oxfordshire residents which will raise £154m. The difference is a cut of £14m in funding from central government.
“The full outcome will be reported to scrutiny councillors and cabinet in January.”
Published: by the Banbury FM News Team
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