Calderdale could lose £1.8m in funding under council cash review, report warns

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 among some authorities, indicating some councils will lose money, with around ten in Yorkshire facing potential losses.

It indicated authorities which may receive more money annually and those which might receive less after 2020-21, with Calderdale potentially taking a 3.64 per cent hit, losing around £1.8 million.

The LGA has said the analysis does not represent LGA policy, an LGA policy proposal or an LGA preference but is an attempt to provide some information to councils to help gauge likely impact of the review on the 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 review’s impact is likely to be and has urged Government to rethink its plans.

At several council meetings the removal of deprivation indicators in the formula for the new settlement has raised concerns during debates on finance, and Labour LGA representatives believe this is a factor in the LGA analysis.

Coun Swift said against the backdrop of ten years of cuts to local government services failing to give councils adequate funding would have consequences for services.

“Local government services have faced ten years of cuts due to reduced central government funding and the failure to provide councils with the money we need to cope with rising demand particularly for social care.

“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,” he said.

A Government spokeperson said funding allocations for adult social care should be fair and based on the best available evidence.

The fair funding review will continue to be progressed through close collaboration and engagement with the local government sector and local authorities should continue to use official Government data for their financial planning, they said.