To Mr Brandon Lewis - DCLG Minister
I would like to raise with your, the minister responsible the very significant issue of transitional funding which Hyndburn Borough Council has received in the last two years to offset the scale of your cuts in the Autumn Statement of 2010 that severely affected 12 Councils.
As you will be aware, a small number of Councils received
transition funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2011/12 and
2012/13. This funding protected these
Councils against unsustainable reductions in their spending power, limiting the
cut to 8.8% in each financial year.
For next year (2013/14) onwards Government is introducing a
new funding mechanism for local government, the Business Rates Retention
Scheme. The indications are that it is
not the Government’s intention to include transition grant in the
calculation and a final decision on this matter is due in the next weeks. This will have a very
detrimental impact on a small number of Councils, which include some of the
most deprived communities in the country. As a former leader of Brentwood Borough Council I am sure you appreciate the impact this will have.
Without this transitional relief Councils affected like my own, my neighbour
Burnley Council and your own, Great Yarmouth will have to consider 'the
unthinkable' to balance their budgets.
Grant £m
|
Transition Grant as % of Core Funding
|
|
Great Yarmouth
|
3.167
|
29.3%
|
Burnley
|
3.237
|
28.7%
|
Bolsover
|
1.930
|
25.9%
|
Barrow-in-Furness
|
2.086
|
25.2%
|
Hyndburn
|
2.163
|
23.6%
|
Pendle
|
2.216
|
22.1%
|
Hastings
|
2.137
|
23.8%
|
Chesterfield
|
0.823
|
10.9%
|
Preston
|
1.345
|
11.5%
|
Copeland
|
0.327
|
6.1%
|
Thanet
|
0.461
|
4.8%
|
Breckland
|
0.139
|
1.7%
|
Total
|
£20.03m
|
18.4%
|
As you can see, this table demonstrates the fundamental importance
of this funding to a small number of Councils, including your own
constituency. The table also
demonstrates that, in national funding terms, the bill to fix the problem
fairly and properly (£20m) is modest. It
is clear to me that Government should be building this funding into the
baseline calculation for the new funding regime.
I am very concerned about this and would value the
opportunity to meet to discuss this very serious matter and receive your and
the governments view on this matter. Hyndburn has been disproportionally hit by
the cuts and unemployment continues to rise despite falls nationally.
I look forward to your swift response given the urgency of
the matter,
Yours sincerely,
Graham Jones MP
Member of Parliament
for Hyndburn
