MP secures meeting with Minister over ‘crippling’ changes to local council budgets

On the floor of the House of Commons this week, Cumbrian MP Tim Farron challenged government ministers over changes to council funding which will severely hit local authorities in rural areas. 

It comes as cabinet members on Westmorland and Furness Council have expressed their concerns that it could be facing substantial funding cuts when the Government’s proposed Fair Funding Review goes ahead and the negative impact that these likely funding cuts would have on its residents and businesses.

Cllr Andrew Jarvis, Westmorland and Furness Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “Based on early information, the review is likely to lead to significant reductions in our funding as the proposed new formula will strongly disadvantage sparse, rural areas like Westmorland and Furness. This means we are likely to face significant funding cuts at the same time as seeing increasing demand for our services and continued inflationary pressure.”

Speaking during a ministerial statement in Parliament on Wednesday, Tim said: “Westmorland and Furness is an extremely well-run council and an extremely unusual one as well. It is England’s most rural council. It is the council that accepts the highest number of visitors - non-resident population - as we support everybody else’s constituents, who make up the 15 million who come to our district every year.

“The council has some of the poorest wards in the country. It is the host of Barrow, which is the centre of the UK’s defence industry, and it has the highest percentage of people in social care. 

“This formula will leave us unusually crippled. We think it will mean a 13% cut to our budgets over the next three years. 

“Given that we are so unusual, will the Minister unusually agree to meet me, her honourable friends our neighbouring MPs in Westmorland and Furness, and local council leaders, so we can work out an unusual solution to this wonderful but unusual council’s problems?”

Responding, the Minister for Local Government, Alison McGovern agreed to meet with Tim. She said: “I thank the honourable gentleman for his question and his description of his unusual and wonderful area. 

“I do not recognise the figures he mentioned just then, but I will happily meet him and any colleagues he wants to bring, and we will go through the numbers together in detail.”