Government berated by Cambridgeshire County Council chief for one-year funding deal and use of old data
The Treasury’s understanding of local government finances is “fundamentally flawed”, according to the chief executive of Cambridgeshire County Council.
Stephen Moir berated the government department for giving the county another one-year funding settlement, using old data to assess needs and delaying the planned fair funding review for councils.
He made the comments at a meeting of the council’s strategy and resources committee last Thursday (January 26), where the budget for the coming financial year was discussed.
The county council is proposing to increase its share of council tax by 4.99 per cent, the maximum allowed by government before triggering a local referendum. This includes a two per cent precept for adult social care.
The council tax increase, if approved, would add £73 to an average Band D household and would raise £17.8m.
Mr Moir said the “headline statements” made by the government about increased core spending power for local authorities were based on the “assumption that full council tax flexibilities” were used.
He said the government was “encouraging” councils to use their reserves, as the county plans to do, while “holding a prudent level” of reserves.
But he described the short-term funding settlements made by the government as “wholly unacceptable”.
Mr Moir said: “I think it is really important to recognise the Treasury – I am not making this as a political comment, this is about the Treasury – the Treasury’s understanding of local government reserves and local government finances is fundamentally flawed.
“If the Treasury thinks the sector as a whole and this council as an individual authority can get by on making use of one-off money, that is not the answer to the long-term funding settlement that we or our residents deserve or need.
“This is the fifth year that this council has received a one-year settlement from government. It is wholly unacceptable. It means that we can not plan for the long-term.
“To the point around the way the fair funding formula needs to be addressed, dealing with lag indicators that represent a population from 2013, or indeed data from 2001 in some cases, is actually penalising Cambridgeshire.
“It is not just penalising this authority, or indeed our district partners, it is penalising the communities we are all here to serve.
“To my mind we are doing everything government has asked us to do. We are using the flexibilities government considers it has given us. None of those flexibilities are easy or things we would necessarily want to do, but government has not dealt with its part of the equation effectively and continues to delay doing so.”
Cllr Steve Count (Con, March North and Waldersey), the opposition group leader, told the meeting that the Conservative group would be submitting an amendment to the budget when the proposals go before full council on February 7.
He said he was not able to support the proposed budget, but saved his full comments until the next meeting.
Cllr Lucy Nethsingha (Lib Dem, Newnham), the leader of the county council, recognised it was an “extremely difficult time” to increase council tax.
She said the decision was ‘not taken lightly’ when she knew many families were “struggling with energy bills, filling up their car, and childcare costs”.
However, Cllr Nethsingha said she was aware that the “vast majority” of the authority’s budget was spent on “looking after the most vulnerable”, for which the authority had to raise funding.
The council is run by a coalition of Liberal Democrat, Labour and Independent councillors.
A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, which handles local government financing, said: “We recognise the pressures councils are facing and have made almost £60 billion available over the next financial year, so they can continue to deliver vital services for residents.
“This includes more than £500 million made available for Cambridge County Council in the next financial year. We are also giving councils the ability to plan ahead with confidence by outlining our spending plans for the next two years.”
The spokesperson said the government remains committed to improving the local government finance landscape in the next Parliament.