Council unsure about £20m grant after spending cuts

A council said a £20m funding grant it hoped to receive was now uncertain after the government announced spending cuts.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council (GYBC) in Norfolk was one of 55 identified as needing financial support by the previous Conservative administration.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves scrapped the Investment Opportunity Fund during her spending audit, and the government said future plans for council funding would be set out in due course.

GYBC chief executive Sheila Oxtoby said the money would be used to fund youth projects, a dental hygienist training hub, improvements to street cleaning and to tackle low-level antisocial behaviour.

She insisted projects such as the Winter Gardens restoration, the redevelopment of North Quay and The Conge and the construction of the offshore wind operations and maintenance campus would not be affected.

But she added: "Our bigger concern is the new funding that was announced, the £20m long-term plan funding - which is £2m over the next 10 years - announced by the previous government.

"As yet, we don't know for sure whether that funding is still being honoured."

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing said: "The chancellor set out the path to confirming future plans through the next spending review, which will conclude in spring 2025, with Budget on 30 October confirming plans for this and next year.

"We understand local areas are seeking clarification on funding.

"The government will set out further details on this matter in due course."

The council's bid for funding set out how the £1.5m per year on capital expenditure projects would fund youth work, a dental hygienist training hub within The Place, a library and university campus within the former Palmers department store.

A further £500,000 per year would help with day-to-day running costs and be used for street cleansing and to tackle low-level antisocial behaviour.

Ms Oxtoby said it would be "a great loss" if the funding was cut as it would have allowed the authority - run as a minority Conservative administration - to put resources back into areas that have previously been cut due to financial pressures.

Despite the uncertainty, she added: "We are still reasonably confident we have a plan that the government will be interested in."

Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.