Better-off councils in the south of England will receive the lion’s share of £153 million of extra Government funding while Nottingham and a number of other councils in the Midlands and North won’t get a penny.
The new so-called ‘negative RSG’ funding comes after £300 million of extra ‘transition funding’ announced in 2016 overwhelmingly benefitted more affluent councils in the South while those in the Midlands and North, which have borne the brunt of Government cuts, received nothing.
Surrey County Council will receive £17 million from the new scheme after previously receiving £24 million of extra transition grant – the most for any council. This is despite Surrey seeing cuts in Government funding since 2013 of only £57 per household compared to Nottingham losing £601 per household. Nottingham has gained nothing through either scheme.
Conservative-led authorities will receive 86% of the proposed ‘negative RSG’ compensation amounting to £132 million after having received 89% of transition grant – £268 million over two years.
Nottingham City Council’s Deputy Leader, Councillor Graham Chapman, said: “It’s frankly outrageous that the Government is once again choosing to bail out councils in better-off areas of the south when poorer councils in the North and Midlands in areas with higher need are losing out.
“The skewed way in which this funding is being distributed is so unfair it’s simply undefendable, which could be why the Government has struggled to properly justify when responding to the numerous Freedom of Information requests on this issue made over the last two years.
“It’s not just that the additional funding would just be nice to have, it’s desperately needed when our main Government grant is being cut from £127m in 2013 to just £25m next year.
“Nottingham people and others across the North and Midlands are losing out on millions of pounds of extra funding which would help support the vital council services they rely on.”