Councils fear cash drain to shires
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.London's borough councils could lose pounds 190m during the next financial year, the Association of London Authorities (ALA) will warn the Government today.
The ALA fears that further changes to local government finance, announced in the Chancellor's Mansion House speech last Wednesday, will take money away from the capital and feed it to the shires.
The Government offered to cushion the effects of recent changes with a 'damping' grant to London authorities losing more than two per cent of grant. However, no guarantees were made that the grant would continue beyond this year.
The ALA is also concerned about the implications of Kenneth Clarke's apparent determination to clamp down on public spending, which could leave local authorities poorer still.
'The new system of local government finance is skewed towards the shires, which generally have fewer needs than the cities,' said Toby
Harris, chairman of the ALA, who will preside at the meeting with the local government minister David Curry today.
'If the Government will not consider changing its unfair system, at least it must continue to cushion its effects. Unless the system is properly phased in, Londoners will soon face paying more money for fewer services,' he said.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments