Govt ‘hasn’t lived up to its promise’ of Covid funding, says councillor

THE government hasn’t lived up to its promises when it comes to reimbursing expenses paid out for the coronavirus pandemic, a council meeting was told.

Presenting a report to Cabinet setting out Coventry City Council’s £6.7m overspend because of Covid-19, Cllr John Mutton, Cabinet member for strategic finance and resources, said he expects more government funding for councils to be announced.

He added: “There are three areas where we are predicting a small overspend, mainly in housing and homelessness and children’s services. The biggest problem that we are facing is the government has not lived up to its promise of reimbursing councils for everything we spent on Covid.”

As reported, Coventry spent £1m on a coronavirus mortuary at Birmingham Airport during the pandemic - one of a number of cost pressures.

The total overspend is £6.7m - but it would have been £28.2m were it not for a government grant. At the same point in the previous financial year there was a projected underspend of £0.6m.

The report notes that the government has indicated that further funding will be available to compensate councils for the loss of income as a result of Covid-19.

Cabinet noted the report and approved the recommendations. It will next be discussed at a meeting of the audit and procurement committee on October 19.

Cllr Mutton also spoke with optimism about the city’s future as the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic gets underway.

He said the capital programme - the council’s investment in large scale projects - last year was the largest he can remember - and is set to be even bigger.

“There will be some borrowing but the Combined Authority and the government have given grants,” he said.

“This shows the way the city is progressing. I’m confident more and more businesses will move to Coventry.”