MPs condemn Government’s sleight of hand
Cornwall’s Liberal Democrat MPs have attacked the Government for failing to give the county the funding it deserves. The move comes after Ministers wrongly claimed that Cornwall County Council had received an above average budget allocation.
In fact the Council received a budget increase of less than 5% which was not enough to meet the growing pressures on frontline services, including the needs of the rising numbers of elderly people and the Fire Brigade.
Dan Rogerson, MP for North Cornwall said:
“It is nothing short of a travesty that the Government should present its smash and grab raid on Cornish funding as an increase in resources.
It’s bad enough that Cornwall County Council should have to balance its books under the pressure of unfair central government funding. That it should now have to waste time defending itself against Ministers’ sophistry adds insult to very considerable injury. The Department for Communities and Local Government should spend less time spinning and more time concentrating on delivering fair funding for Cornwall.
“Our constituents aren’t asking for a special deal, just a fair deal. They have the strong support of their Liberal Democrat MPs.”
Colin Breed, MP for South East Cornwall added:
“It is a significant blow to the County to have money removed in this fashion. Principally it undermines the ability of the County Council to provide the good basic services that Cornish people deserve.
“The whole nature of Local Government funding needs to be reviewed, the blatantly unfair council tax is compounded by this Government’s sleight of hand. Cornwall isn't getting a fair deal from this Government on many levels and this is most apparent in Local Government funding.”
Julia Goldsworthy, MP for Falmouth and Camborne has also joined with the County Council, in expressing her anger at the Government’s claims, saying:
“It’s time for Gordon Brown to come clean – what he gives with one hand, he takes away with the other.
“Cornwall is already one of the most poorly funded local authorities in the country and now the Prime Minister is clawing back even more, when what we need is a fair funding deal.
“With 80% of Local Government spending coming from central Government grants, it’s clear that even further increases in the regressive and unfair council tax would not be sufficient to make up the shortfall that the Government has now clawed back.
“Gordon Brown must urgently address the unfair way local government is funded, so that Cornwall finally gets the money it deserves.”
For more information, please contact Sam Cannicott – 020 7219 8210 / 07751893270
Notes for Editors
1) The Government’s claims that Cornwall County Council received a 5.2% increase in its budget for 2007- 2008 are simply untrue.
2) The Council only received a 4.74% (£5.8 million) increase after the Government removed £6. 7 million through the “damping mechanism” to protect the budgets of other councils.
3) In May the Liberal Democrats published a report entitled “May Day Cornwall” which found that successive governments have continued to spend less on public services in Cornwall than across the rest of the country.
a. 20% less on Social Services
b. 23% less on policing
c. £300 less on every Cornish school child. The current Government typically spends double on residents of Islington than on people in Cornwall
