I am delighted to welcome the new funding for our city and two counties. This takes total additional funding for our area to £57,957,000. Direct Government funding to help councils respond to the pandemic has now reached £4.3 billion.
This new Government scheme will help to cover our councils’ lost income during the pandemic and boost cash flow. I believe that this announcement that our city and two counties will receive almost a further £58 million from the Government to help pay for its response to corona virus, will make a real difference. It comes as part of a £500 million package of additional support. The extra £500 million – which brings support for pressures they are facing to £4.3 billion –will ensure councils in England can continue to deliver crucial frontline services, support those most in need and continue delivering for residents.
In total, since the pandemic began, the councils in our area will have now received an additional £57.9 million. This additional support forms part of a comprehensive package of Government support to help councils respond to the pandemic, including an unprecedented new scheme to help councils recover lost income, including from car parks and museums, which have been shut during the lockdown. In addition, the Government has announced a co-payment scheme that will compensate councils for irrecoverable income losses from sales, fees and charges.
And to enable them to get on the front foot and build much-needed breathing space into their budgets, the Government is also allowing them to spread their tax deficits over three years rather than the usual one. This will allow authorities to pay deficits off in a reasonable timescale and will limit their cashflow pressures.
The staff at our councils have played a heroic role in coordinating the local response to Coronavirus and I’m sure everyone in our community will join me in thanking them for everything they’ve done under extraordinary circumstances.
Our Conservative government said at the beginning of this crisis that they would stand behind our councils and I’m delighted that they have done, protecting local services and ensuring councils come through this difficult period with stable finances. This additional £7.6 million shows they’ve continued to listen to local concerns and will protect local services in our area on which we all rely.
Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick told me: “Councils are playing a vital role in our national fight against coronavirus, providing a lifeline for so many and supporting communities at a time when they need it most. “That’s why we are giving them an extra £500 million –taking our total additional funding provided to £4.3 billion –and today I am setting out how this will be allocated to councils fairly based on the pressures they have told us they are facing. This comes on top of the co-payment scheme announced last week that will compensate councils for irrecoverable income losses from sales, fees and charges.”
