Government's financial settlement - 'The rural voice has been silent for too long'

There is news this morning from the invaluable Rural Services Network(for more on RSN click here) that Members of Parliament from the three major parties have combined to fight for a better settlement for rural councils.

It has been calculated that people in rural areas pay on average some £75 more in council taxes but that Government grants for urban areas are some 50% higher than for rural areas.  The recently announced settlement for 2014/15 did nothing to alter this situation.

The Chairman of the Campaign, Graham Stuart, who is the Conservative MP for Beverley and Holderness was reported as saying ‘The rural voice has been silent for too long.

The group, which is called The Rural Fair Share campaign, is calling on Eric Pickles to reduce the differential such that grants for urban areas exceed those in rural areas by no more than 40%.

Babergh has not been idle in this area. In common with other rural councils since the settlement was announced, Members and officers have also lobbied government, to try to obtain a more equitable settlement and so ensure that services to our residents are preserved as far as possible.

The outcome for Babergh of recent Government announcements have now been calculated, and it seems that, as things stand at present,our grant from Government will fall by 6% in 2013/14 and by almost 13% in 2014/15…a drop of some 44% from levels three years ago.

Babergh’s Strategy Committee will start the process of setting next year’s budget at a meeting on Thursday of this week.

Savings made due to the merger of our officer structure with that of Mid Suffolk District Council will certainly help.  This activity will save us £2m by 2015/16.  Making ends meet remains tricky however, and  must be very difficult indeed for those councils that have not taken such radical steps.