England's lowest-funded councils call for £300m 'levelling-up fix'

A group of the lowest-funded councils across England has called for the government to provide a £300m temporary fix to "level up" local finances.

The F20 group, led by Leicestershire County Council, also includes authorities in York, Bath and Luton.

Warrington's deputy leader Cathy Mitchell said "for too long", councils had been asked to "do more, with less".

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities (DLUHC) has been approached for comment.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said Labour-controlled Warrington was the latest council to join the cross-party group.

The group's push for funding follows the publication of a report by Tory think-tank UK Onward in September, which found that the current system of funding meant local authorities such as Warrington, Staffordshire and Leeds had "low core spending power" (CSP) whilst places like Islington and Westminster had a high level of CSP.

It concluded that without additional financial support, those authorities with low CSP "increasingly will struggle to provide essential and valued services to their local communities".

It added that a "fair funding review" was crucial and needed as soon as possible, with a "temporary mechanism" also required to support "those authorities in most danger of becoming unsustainable and in risk of financial collapse".

Ms Mitchell has written to Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and Minister of State Kemi Badenoch to press the need for more funding.

Her letter follows a meeting of the leaders of the councils in the group earlier in December.

She said that "for too long, councils have been expected to do more, with less, with the lowest-funded councils feeling this pressure most acutely".

"Without further financial support, councils with the lowest spending power will find it even more challenging to continue providing the services that our residents depend on.

"We call on the secretary of state to provide us with the additional support we so desperately need."

Leicestershire's Conservative leader Nick Rushton said momentum was "building" among councils.

He said the think tank's "short-term solution" would see "an extra £300m injected into the system".

He added that a temporary fix was not ideal but it was "a quick and relatively cheap solution" to put the councils "on a more sustainable footing".