Uncertainty about the government's future funding model for local councils was one of the key messages written through a Cabinet report considered last week by the council's Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Management Board (COSMB).
The council's Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) sets out significant investment over the coming years, including the Towns & Villages Initiative aimed at reviving some of the county's most disadvantaged communities (please see post dated Wednesday 10 February 2021 for details).
However the prospect of continuing government austerity looms on the horizon. Accompanied by repeated delays to the government's Comprehensive Spending Review, its Fair Funding Review and the Business Rates Retention scheme - which is intended to abandon councils to the vagaries of the business rate system to fund services as central government grant is removed - this potentially leaves local authority services and communities facing an extended period of uncertainty characterised by further funding cuts. For example, the government's Fair Funding Review alone could potentially remove £19m from the council's public health grant allocation - a counter intuitive measure for a local authority within a Northeast region suffering the highest levels of health inequality in the country.
It is also noted that County Durham's core spending power per dwelling is significantly below the England average. If the government was to bring County Durham up to the England average the council's grant settlement would increase by around £45m each year - clearly something that would be of huge benefit to the people and communities of County Durham, and the type of measure the government must deliver in the interests of fairness - and if it is to be taken seriously on its promise to 'level-up' northern communities.
Despite the uncertainty, and the threat of another round of crippling government-imposed austerity, the tone and content of the report remain largely positive with a balanced budget and a strong capital programme, including a series of regeneration initiatives all enabled by consistent prudent financial management.
The complete MTFP report can be found in the link below: