Somerset Council leader welcomes calls for 'urgent rethink' on Local Government Settlement
Bill Revans has welcomed a letter by more than 40 MPs, calling for an urgent rethink on local authority funding
Last updated 8th Aug 2024
A group of MPs - including two right here from Somerset - are calling for an 'urgent rethink' on the Local Government Settlement.
The cash was announced at the end of last year, with a vote on the £64 billion package to take place in Parliament next month.
Amid the financial emergency, Somerset Council leader Bill Revans says he strongly supports the calls for change, published by the County Councils Network (CCN) and County All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG).
Adding their names to the list are Sarah Dyke (Lib Dem, Somerton and Frome) and Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative, Bridgwater and West Somerset) – along with seven former Cabinet Members.
In the letter, the 46 MPs say they are ‘exceptionally concerned’ that residents will be faced with a ‘double whammy’ of reductions in services and higher council tax rates in order for councils to deliver a balanced budget.
Cllr Revans said: " We’ve said the model for funding local government is broken. We’re not alone in making this claim. Here we have support from more than 40 MPs nationally, including two Somerset MPs of different political parties.
"The scenario they describe is exactly what is happening in Somerset, where due to soaring costs in social care we have no choice but to consider taking heart-breaking and unprecedented decisions to increase council tax while also reducing non-statutory services.
"I strongly support this letter and hope it leads to a meaningful conversation at a national level about funding for local councils.”
The group of MPs includes former Local Government Secretary of States Robert Jenrick and Greg Clark, as well as prominent former cabinet members such as Priti Patel, Therese Coffey, Damien Green, and Brandon Lewis. They also include former local government ministers Neil O’Brien, Heather Wheeler, Kit Malthouse, and Jake Berry.
They have called for the government to provide emergency funding for councils to prevent substantial cuts to local services, or worse, some authorities being unable to deliver a balanced budget in 2024/25.
In the letter, they say: "There is still an opportunity to rectify the situation and ensure MPs are able to support the vote on the Local Government Settlement within the House of Commons in early February.
"We would therefore urge you to do all you can to use the Final Local Government Finance Settlement to provide additional funding for local government to ensure that the councils in our areas can continue to provide the services that our residents depend upon on a regular basis.”
Read more: North Somerset Council asks for reconsideration of local government settlement
You can read the letter by the cross-party group of MPs to the Government here.
You can find out more about the Government's extra package of cash for local authorities here.