Council allocations of the £1bn Coronavirus funding: CCN response

Cllr Carl Les, finance spokesperson for the County Councils Network, said:

“While we welcome any additional resources, the allocations of this latest tranche of emergency Coronavirus funding is unexpected and disappointing for county authorities.

“All local authorities are facing huge difficulties as a result of the pandemic and there are currently different infection rates across the country. Going forward, the County Councils Network supported the distribution method deployed in the third tranche of funding. But to in effect apply this formula retrospectively means that the national shortfall in funding has been shifted further towards county authorities.

“Our members were already facing a funding shortfall, and it is critical that all councils receive the funding they need to cover additional expenditure, which will increase over the winter months. The government must now consider providing further funding to support councils who will now face a much larger shortfall than they anticipated.

“Even if these resources were proportionate, county authorities still face severe financial uncertainty in the next financial year and beyond, with underlying funding gaps exacerbated by Coronavirus. Next month’s Spending Review must deliver a significant uplift in funding for the next financial year and provide an income guarantee scheme to protect against council tax and business rate losses.”.