Fears Calderdale could take £1.8m hit in review
CALDERDALE COUNCIL could lose around £1.8 million in funding after next year, suggests analysis of a local government spending review.
Government is expected to announce consultation into its ongoing Fair Funding Review – a new funding formula for local government – in the spring.
But some Local Government Association (LGA) commissioned analysis is already causing concern. It indicates authorities which may receive more money annually and those which might get less after 202021, with Calderdale potentially losing around £1.8 million. The LGA has said the analysis does not represent LGA policy, a policy proposal or LGA preference but is an attempt to provide information to councils to help gauge likely impact of the review on relative distribution of adult social care funding.
For the Govermment, Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick has said they are speculative figures and councils should not pay any heed to them.
But Leader of Calderdale Council, Coun Tim Swift (Lab,
Town) says the analysis indicates clearly enough what the impact is likely to be. At several council meetings removal of deprivation indicators in the formula for the new settlement has raised concerns during debates on finance, and Labour LGA representatives believe it is a factor in the analysis.
Coun Swift said: “Any changes which mean further cuts to Calderdale will therefore mean more reductions in vital local services. The LGA analysis clearly shows that if the Government goes ahead with their plans to change how council funding is shared out, then those councils with the highest levels of need will lose the most. This proposal is wrong in principle and will be disastrous in practice, but it is the inevitable result of ignoring the demands created by deprivation and deliberately favouring more rural, Conservative areas. Instead of disputing the detail, the Government needs to scrap the current plans and agree to a fundamental review of how local council services are paid for which takes full account of the impact of deprivation and of the huge and growing demand for social care.”
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