MP Welcomes Extra Cash for Rural Areas

Cheshire East and Cheshire West councils are going to benefit from an additional funding as a result of the Parliamentary rural fair share campaign.

Antoinette Sandbach the MP for Eddisbury met with the Secretary of State to highlight the greater expense of delivering services in rural areas.

Evidence showed that Urban Councils are receiving a disproportionate amount of local government grant and that rural areas were missing out despite taxpayers in rural areas on average paying £81 a year more in council tax.
The Rural Fair Share campaign was calling for the Government to look again at its funding formula in relation to the delivery of services in relation to rural areas.

The Secretary of State has announced a Fair Funding Review to consider the appropriate funding needs of different types of areas, as it is nearly 10 years since the current formula was looked at thoroughly, and there is good reason to believe that the demographic pressures affecting particular areas – such as the growth in the elderly population – have affected different areas in different ways, as has the cost of providing services.

There will be additional funding to ease the pace of reductions during the most difficult first two years of the settlement. Additional resources will be made available in the form of a transitional grant paid in each of the first two years
In the meantime, before 2019/20, no council will have to contribute more from their business rates than they envisaged.

Cheshire East will receive additional transitional grant funding from central Government of £2.97 million in 2016/17 and £2.97 million in 2017/18. Cheshire West and Chester will receive additional transitional grant funding from central Government of £1.43 million in 2016/17 and £1.44 million in 2017/18.

Antoinette said:
"This is a welcome step forward in tackling the growing inequality in funding between deeply or significantly rural councils and metropolitan councils. It is now vital that the Leaders of the Councils in Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester use the additional funding to support services in the rural areas that it is provided for."