Councils at risk of being forced to survive without government cash, warns Barnsley leader

Barnsley Council’s leader has warned that local authorities could be forced to run without Government cash, leaving them to survive with the funds raised from council tax and business rates.
Expansion: Barnsley Council is to build new homes in Royston Expansion: Barnsley Council is to build new homes in Royston
Expansion: Barnsley Council is to build new homes in Royston

During a meeting, Sir Steve Houghton told authority members that a Whitehall review of local authority funding meant councils were at risk of being told to survive on the cash they can raise from Council Tax and business rates.

At present, rates go to the Government which then redistributes the cash to councils.

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He said: “The big worry I have is the Government intention to focus more on business rates to fund local services. In Barnsley our needs are far greater than our economic performance.

“In some parts of the country, their needs are much less than their economic performance and they are looking forwards to it.

“Well, you would, wouldn’t you? Others will struggle funding services from Council Tax and business rates. We cannot manage without the grant from the Government.

Under proposals being considered, authorities’ spending would be dictated by how much cash they could raise from their own area, leaving deprived areas like Barnsley and neighbouring Doncaster in financial trouble.

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Sir Steve added: “We are lobbying hard to say the notion of surviving on our own economy just doesn’t work. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. That cannot be right.

“There is a lot of work to be done in the next six to 12 months on the fair funding review to ensure we don’t end up on the wrong end of that.”

Local authorities have already been hit hard by a series of cuts in the Government cash they receive as a result of austerity.

Those cuts have affected some authorities worse than others, with Barnsley identified as the country’s biggest loser in a recent study by the Centre for Cities ‘think tank’.

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Despite that, the authority points to a solid financial performance with developments including a £180m town centre redevelopment, a programme aimed at bringing new business to town and impressive performance in improving exam results, which have risen from the bottom of league tables to the best in South Yorkshire.