News story

1st February 2001

No sign of end to unfair council funding

There is little sign of an end to the unfair funding rules which put South Gloucestershire Council at the bottom of the national funding league, according to Northavon MP Steve Webb. The MP was speaking after a debate in the House of Commons to finalise this year’s settlement for local councils for the coming financial year. In a last-minute adjustment, South Gloucestershire Council’s core funding was actually cut by £300,000, more than offsetting a £100,000 bonus from the Department for Education. During Wednesday’s debate (31st January), Steve Webb challenged local Government minister Hilary Armstrong over the fact that Bristol City Council had been awarded over £700,000 of additional education funding at the last minute, whereas the three other former Avon authorities which are not Labour controlled had each received the minimum level of funding. The minister replied that a complex formula had been used to work out the allocations and that she was sure that this explained the discrepancies. At the end of the debate only the Liberal Democrats used their votes to oppose this continuing unfairness.

Speaking after the debate, Steve Webb said:

“It is a huge disappointment that a whole Parliament has gone by without meaningful reform of the unfair rules which treat our children as second-class citizens. Ministers have accepted that the present system has to change, but are so afraid of upsetting anyone that they have allowed the present injustice to continue for far too long. It is time that fine words about reform were translated into action”.





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