Oral Answers to Questions

Ben Obese-Jecty Excerpts

Monday 24th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Alison McGovern]

I know that my hon. Friend always stands up for her constituency, and that she always will. Under our proposals, shire district councils are expected to see an average funding increase of 2.7% over the spending review period. Across the Department, we will support district councils in that and other ways, and I look forward to discussing the issue in detail with my hon. Friend and her council.

[Ben Obese-Jecty (Huntingdon) (Con)]

Cambridgeshire fire and rescue service is funded through a formula that relies on population density and sparsity figures from the 2001 census. Since 2001, Cambridgeshire has grown by over 150,000 people and 30,000 new homes, making the service one of the leanest per head in the country. We have effectively built a city the size of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire and given it no further funding. Over-reliance on council tax to bridge funding gaps undermines the core principle of risk-based resource allocation, so what assurances can the Minister give me that the fairer funding review 2.0 will not require the difference to be made up by simply increasing the council tax precept by the maximum?

[Alison McGovern]

The hon. Gentleman mentions fire. The Minister responsible and I are keeping this issue under review, and we are happy to hear further from him if he has concerns about it.