Croydon Mayor and the Labour candidate hoping to take over the role in May have each launched campaigns asking for fairer funding for the borough
Croydon politicians say the borough has been left behind by an unfair funding system which favours neighbouring areas such as Lambeth and Southwark.
They argue that years of underfunding have deepened inequalities across the borough, putting pressure on essential services and residents alike, and are urging the government to fix the outdated system that determines council funding.
Both Croydon’s Executive Mayor Jason Perry and Labour’s mayoral candidate Rowenna Davis have now launched their own campaigns calling on the government to deliver a fairer deal for the borough, which recognises its growth and current pressures. Both say that Croydon’s outdated funding settlement is holding it back and limiting investment in public services.
“Anyone who goes up to the border with our neighbours can look across the street and see a visible difference, there is less fly-tipping and it looks cleaner,” said Labour’s mayoral candidate Rowenna Davis. She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that the contrast highlights how the current funding formula has failed to reflect Croydon’s growing social and economic challenges.”
In a letter, Conservative Mayor Jason Perry has urged the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, and Croydon North and Streatham MP, Steve Reed, to deliver the Fair Funding Review in full and ensure Croydon finally receives its fair share of national resources. The review, announced in June 2025, aims to replace decade-old data with a system based on current population need and deprivation.
He told the LDRS: “For far too long Croydon has been short-changed by an outdated system that simply didn’t recognise the pressures we face. We’ve stabilised the council’s finances, restored good governance, and shown what sound management can achieve. Now the government must follow through and deliver a settlement that truly reflects need and deprivation.”
According to Mayor Perry, early government modelling indicates that Croydon could gain significantly from the changes, which would recognise population growth, social challenges, and the rising cost of delivering essential services when deciding funding. He said the review is a vital opportunity to correct years of underfunding.
Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows major differences in funding for key public services and estimated spending needs across the country, highlighting the risk of a what some call a ‘postcode lottery’ when allocations fail to reflect local demand.
Data from 2022/23 revealed the following funding allocation:
– Croydon receives £4,650 funding per person – Lambeth receives £5,077 funding per person – Southwark receives £5,378 funding per person*
The Mayor’s open letter, co-signed by dozens of Conservative councillors and Croydon and Sutton’s London Assembly Member Neil Garratt, calls on ministers to resist any attempt to dilute the new formula. Mayor Perry said fair funding would allow Croydon to continue rebuilding services, investing in town centres, and restoring pride in the borough.
He has invited councillors, MPs and mayoral candidates of all parties to back the call and present a united front as the review progresses. Cllr Davis’s own Fair Funding Campaign, launched on the same day, also seeks to put pressure on the government to act, using petitions and street stalls to rally public support.
She told the LDRS: “For decades Croydon has not been fairly funded. The funding formula dates back to a time when Central London was very deprived and outer London was relatively wealthy. That has clearly changed.”
Cllr Davis argues that Croydon now faces some of the deepest social challenges in London but receives less for education, adult social care and environmental services.
She added: “Also, if you look at the asylum seekers we take in, we do not get the support to help those people in their communities. It is time for that to change. Croydon cannot be ignored anymore — the council is at breaking point and its people are at breaking point.”
Cllr Davis said she does not want to see neighbouring boroughs lose funding but believes Croydon deserves at least the same quality of services based on the evidence.
When asked if she thinks having local MP Steve Reed in charge of the funding review will help Croydon’s case, Cllr Davis said: “I think whatever he does has to be evidence-based and has to have a clear rationale that he can be held accountable for.
“He can’t be seen to be doing particular favours for a particular area just because he is the MP there. In fact, he has recused himself from any dealings with Croydon’s debt.”
While both campaigns are calling for fairer funding for Croydon, each candidate has claimed to be the first to launch the initiative. Their efforts also highlight the political differences and strategic positioning ahead of the much-anticipated May 2026 mayoral election.
Mayor Perry has framed his campaign around financial stability and responsible management, while Cllr Davis links the issue to what she calls decades of neglect under previous governments.
Cllr Davis urged a more constructive approach to working with ministers, accusing Jason Perry of “scaremongering” in his comments about the national government. Her remarks referred to a video the Mayor posted earlier this year criticising the government’s decision to send in commissioners.
She told the LDRS: “I really hope he has learnt his lesson, but I still find the outburst quite unforgivable.”
In response, Mayor Perry told the LDRS: “It’s disappointing that something as important as fair funding for Croydon is being treated as a partisan issue. For over twenty years, councillors of all parties have campaigned for a fairer deal for our borough – this should be a cause that unites us, not divides us.””
While it is accepted that positive changes to the fair funding settlement would ease the burden placed on Croydon’s overstretched public services, it would not address the issue of the borough’s historic £1.4bn debt. Calls for a government-supported bailout have been growing following news that the beleaguered Woking Council will receive a £500m government bailout as part of the recently announced Surrey County Council split into two authorities.
However, Cllr Davis warned that failing to secure a better funding deal would make life even harder for residents in London’s largest borough, by population size. “Let’s face it, Croydon residents already feel pretty squeezed and it gets more and more painful,” she said.
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