No hardship funding for county 'short-sighted'

The leader of Derbyshire County Council has said the government's decision not to give the council a share of extra funding for struggling local authorities is "short-sighted" and "unfair".

Derby City Council has qualified for the funding but Derbyshire has not, despite its Conservative leader Barry Lewis arguing its challenges are no different.

Last month the Labour government announced a new one-off £600m Recovery Grant as part of an "overhaul" of local government funding.

It says it "will increase the efficiency of our funding by targeting money towards areas with greater need and demand for services, and less ability to raise income locally".

It comes as 70% of Derby City Council's housing stock falls into lower bands of council tax, meaning less income is derived from council tax.

Derbyshire County Council's figure is about 60%.

The Labour leader of Derby City Council Nadine Peatfield has praised the government's decision to give the authority a portion of the grant, describing it as forming part of a "positive settlement" for the authority's upcoming budget.

She told the BBC it would allow the council to "start to rebuild".

It will be used in part to replenish the authority's reserves, which are currently below the recommended amount.

Although councils won't officially find out how much money the government is giving them until next week for the next financial year, those who qualify for the grant like Derby City have been informed.

Derbyshire County Council is currently facing an overspend of about £28m. The city council's budget gap stands at roughly £22m.

Barry Lewis told the BBC he was "extremely disappointed that Derbyshire has been overlooked for any share".

"Any extra funding at all to help us to meet these pressures is welcome," he said.

"While I appreciate the Recovery Fund is targeted at deprived areas there is little or no acknowledgment that all councils are facing the same pressures and this surely cannot be the fairest way to distribute this much-needed extra money.

"The cost of delivering rural services is higher and we have significant pockets of deprivation in our market towns and villages and this isn't being recognised.

"It is disappointing, unfair and short-sighted."

A government spokesperson said: "Our £600m Recovery Grant will help us get areas facing the greatest need and demand for services on a more stable footing.

"We will provide further information on the councils who are in scope of the grant later this month and this will form part of the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement consultation in the usual way."

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