B&NES Council have said they are pleased that Government ministers have listened to local authorities and agreed to provide transitional funding for the next two years to assist with changes to their grant settlement.
Last December’s announcement on local government funding saw a larger reduction in Government grant than had been anticipated by the Council.
Cllr Charles Gerrish (Conservative, Keynsham North), Cabinet member for Finance and Efficiency, said: “Members of the Council’s Cabinet directly lobbied ministers in Westminster to secure a share of this additional funding which we expect to be in the region of £930,000 per year for a period of two years.
“It is important to emphasise that this temporary funding does not affect the Council’s base budget position.
“Even with this additional support, the Council will still need to make £12 million of savings over the coming year, and a total of £43 million over the course of the next four years.
“Therefore we will continue to seek efficiencies and innovative ways to protect essential front line services.”
The Council will be looking at the potential impact of this transitional funding in more detail.
The Council will also be considering the Government’s offer of a four year budget settlement and will look at this once more details are provided.
B&NES Conservative Leader Tim Warren, who visited Parliament last month to meet with Ministers alongside the Cllr Gerrish, said: “It’s good to see that Ministers listened to the concerns we put to them last month about the difficult financial situation we face here in B&NES and have acted on these concerns.
“Obviously this funding is only a one-off and represents a relatively small proportion of the total savings we still have to make, but any additional funding for our local area is always welcome news.
“This funding doesn’t reduce the longer-term savings that still need to be made in the years ahead, and due to its one-off nature this money can’t be used to fund on-going commitments.
“However, what it can be used for is to provide temporary support to local services whilst the Council adapts to new ways of delivering these services and continues work to identify further efficiency savings in the years ahead.”
Councillor Dine Romero (Southdown), Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, commented: “This last-minute announcement is typical of the lack of transparency we have seen throughout this budget round.
“By pulling this rabbit out of their hat, the government hopes to distract local communities from the enormous cuts being imposed over the next four years.
“Indeed, this relatively small amount will do little to soften the impact of cuts coming to vital services, such as health.”
Councillor Andrew Furse (Kingsmead), Liberal Democrat spokesperson on Finance, added: “The Conservative government has been accused of buying-off Tory-run councils due, in part, to the numbers of their MPs pressuring David Cameron.
“Almost all of the transitional funding is being given to Conservative-run Councils. I can only assume that B&NES’ woefully inadequate transitional arrangements are a result of inadequate pressure from our MPs.
“It confirms that our Conservative-run council has no friends in Westminster. B&NES residents will still have to pay more and get less.”
