News story

22nd January 2002

MP "dismayed" by Government lack of urgency over Council funding reform

Northavon MP Steve Webb has expressed his frustration at an apparent lack of Government understanding over the financial pressures being placed on councils such as South Gloucestershire under the existing council funding rules. The MP was speaking after he lead a debate at Westminster on the “Standard Spending Assessment for South Gloucestershire”, which was replied to by local government minister, Alan Whitehead MP.

Steve Webb began by reminding the Minister that South Gloucestershire was one of the lowest funded authorities in the country, whether for education or social services, and that this had been true since the authority was created in the mid 1990s. He told MPs that the Council would continue to struggle financially until there was fundamental reform of the system, promised for 2003/04. But as yet, no details have emerged of what the Government is planning. Steve Webb urged the Government to bring in the reforms as soon as possible, and to ensure that Councils that benefit do not have to wait years before the gains work through in full.

In responding, the Minister said that this year’s settlement had been a good one for councils, including South Gloucestershire, but that he recognised that there were unfairnesses in the present system that the Government would be seeking to address. He stressed the need to achieve “consensus” on these changes. Steve Webb challenged this claim, by pointing out that the minister had only yesterday refused to meet an all-party delegation of South West MPs, and asked how he could achieve consensus if he refused to meet people. The Minister said that he had met many groups of councils and found that having lots of similar meetings was a waste of time.

After the debate, Steve Webb said: “The Government does not seem to
grasp how angry local people are that South Gloucestershire is continually
at the end of the queue when it comes to Government money. We are promised reform for next year, but at this stage we still have very little idea of what the Government will come up with. Nor did the Minister give any assurances that councils who gain from the changes will not have
to wait years before the full benefits feed through. Local people have waited long enough for a fair deal and it is time that the Government recognised the strength of feeling on this issue”.

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Note to editors: At the request of local authorities from across the South
West, Lib Dem MP Steve Webb, Labour MP David Drew and Conservative MP Liam Fox were asked to arrange a meeting with the Minister to raise the issue of the unfair funding of the South West as a whole. The Minister has now written back refusing to meet the MPs.