Rural Councils Require More Government Support, Says Stuart Anderson MP
As plans are progressed for the Autumn Budget on 30th October, Stuart Anderson MP has called for more support for rural councils. He has urged the government to reform the National Funding Formula with a rural uplift and to continue the Rural Services Delivery Grant, which provides un-ringfenced funding in recognition of the possible additional costs of delivering services in sparsely populated areas.
Stuart has also called for an extension of the Lower Tier Services Grant, which the last government had introduced with extra funding in order to support the delivery of everyday services such as homelessness, planning, recycling, and refuse collection. He added that both of these schemes recognise the specific challenges and difficulties that local councils can face when serving dispersed populations in rural areas.
It follows analysis by the County Councils Network (CCN) that local authorities in England face a funding shortfall of £54 billion over the next five years. 83% of this results from increased costs associated with adult social care, children’s services, and home to school transport. The CCN also report that county and rural unitary authorities will face the largest deficits in local government over the next five years, representing 36% of this, £20.3 billion.
Shropshire Council has reported the increased costs means that it will be over-budget by £37 million by the end of the financial year. While reserves of £38 million will be able to cover the forecast overspending, the Council has reported that it would be left with little more than £1 million to cover any unexpected costs.
As the BBC report, the percentage of its net budget spent on social care has increased from 58% to 74% over the last six years. The number of children in council care has also risen by more than 80% since 2020. The report references research published by the BBC’s Shared Data Unit, which shows that Shropshire Council is looking to save £191 per resident. This is more than any other council in England and has resulted in changes to services, with resurfacing work on 11 roads being postponed in areas including Craven Arms, Bridgnorth, and Cleobury Mortimer.
In recognition of the specific challenges and difficulties that local councils can face in serving rural, sparse populations, the last government increased the Rural Services Delivery Grant by £15 million in 2024-25. It was an increase of over 15% and made available £110 million over the past year. The last government also increased the Services Grant to £87 million, which was £10 million more than the value it had consulted on at the Provisional Settlement.
In a written statement updating Members of Parliament on local government finance in February, the last government also outlined its commitment to “improving the local government finance system” in the next Parliament. This would entail a review of the National Funding Formula to ensure that funding allocations for councils are based on an up-to-date assessment of their needs and resources. Stuart has called on the new government to continue this work with a consultation on the formula.
Stuart Anderson MP said:
“Rural councils are delivering vital services in challenging environments. In its budget, the new government should recognise the pressure that rural services are facing by providing fairer funding for rural areas. It should continue with the Rural Services Delivery Grant and Services Grant, which both recognise the additional costs of delivering services in sparsely populated areas such as Shropshire. In the longer term, it should continue with the last government’s wider review to ensure that funding allocations are based on an up-to-date assessment of local needs.”
