Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mark Francois and Julie Cooper

Monday 14th September 2015 Commons Chamber

[Julie Cooper (Burnley) (Lab)]

14. What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the local government grant formula in directing funding to areas of need.

[The Minister for Communities and Resilience (Mr Mark Francois)]

Councils facing the highest demand for services receive substantially more funding, including through formula grant. With the introduction of business rates retention in 2013-14, there has been a deliberate shift away from keeping authorities dependent on grants and towards providing councils with the tools and incentives they need to grow their local economies.

--- Later in debate ---

[Julie Cooper]

Since 2010, funding to my constituency has been cut by a staggering 54%. Does the Minister agree that this cannot be acceptable given that during the same period some constituencies have benefited from a rise in funding? Does he realise that the funding formula is seriously flawed and in urgent need of review?

[Mr Francois]

I do not agree. Burnley has an area spending power of £2,112 per household, which remains above the national average. In 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16, we provided Burnley council with a £1.9 million efficiency support grant—equivalent to more than 10% of its spending power—to support long-term changes to bring costs down while continuing to deliver the services that Burnley’s citizens expect. That is nearly £6 million of additional resources, so, given what some other councils have done, the hon. Lady perhaps doth protest too much.