PoliticslegislationPublic Hearings
Councils in north of England and Midlands to get more funding in shake-up
In a significant rebalancing of Britain’s fiscal landscape, a new local authority funding formula is set to redirect resources from affluent rural councils to urban centres in the Midlands and northern England, many of which have been hollowed out by more than a decade of austerity. This isn't merely a technical adjustment in Whitehall's spreadsheets; it is a profound, values-driven shift that acknowledges the stark geographic inequalities entrenched across the country.The policy, announced by ministers as a 'fairer system,' explicitly recognises the dual burden carried by councils in so-called 'left behind' areas: they face higher levels of deprivation, which creates greater demand for essential services like social care and children's support, while simultaneously possessing weaker council tax-raising powers due to lower property values and higher needs. This structural disadvantage has long been a feminist issue, as the deepest cuts to local government have disproportionately impacted women, who are both the majority of the public sector workforce and the primary users of services like domestic violence refuges and childcare support.The guarantee of real-terms funding increases for the next three years offers a fragile lifeline, a tentative promise of stability for communities that have seen libraries close, youth centres shuttered, and streets become less safe. One can analyse this through the lens of political strategy—it's no coincidence that many of the beneficiary councils are under Reform party leadership, suggesting a calculated move to shore up support in politically volatile regions.Yet, to view it solely through that prism misses the human dimension. This policy is, at its core, about the dignity of place.It’s about whether a child in Blackpool has access to the same quality of library as a child in the Cotswolds, and whether an elderly person in Stoke-on-Trent can receive dignified care at home. The redistribution from the shires to the post-industrial towns echoes debates on a global scale, reminiscent of the tensions within the European Union's cohesion funds or the arguments for reparative justice in international development.However, the true test will be in implementation. Will this funding be enough to reverse the decay? Will it be ring-fenced for frontline services, or could it be swallowed by rising costs and existing deficits? The narrative of 'levelling up' has been promised before, but this specific, tangible reallocation of treasury funds suggests a more substantive, though still contested, step toward reknitting the social fabric of the nation's most neglected towns and cities.
#local government funding
#UK councils
#funding shake-up
#deprivation
#austerity
#featured
