Fair Funding Review 2.0 consultation launched: CCN's on-the-day response

Today the government has launched its latest consultation on funding reforms in local government, called the Fair Funding Review 2.0.

The consultation runs until the middle of August. With the consultation running to over 100 pages the County Councils Network will be carefully analysing the detail over the coming days.

Below, the network has issued the following on-the-day comment:

Cllr Tim Oliver, Chair of the County Councils Network, said:

“The County Councils Network (CCN) has long-argued that the funding system for councils is out-date and in desperate need of reform. Over recent months the network has engaged positively with the government as it has developed these proposals.

“Following our advocacy, ministers have taken some welcome steps to recognise the needs of county and rural unitary authorities. This includes acting on our calls for a new ‘remoteness’ indicator to better reflect the additional costs of providing services in rural areas and proposing a service specific formula for home to school transport. It also appears that the government have accepted our calls to update the adult social care formula building on previous academic research, and this could benefit county areas.

‘“However, with this consultation containing over 100 pages of detailed calculations to work through, and with the government providing no exemplifications of the financial impact of these reforms, it will take time for CCN and its member councils to fully assess the implications of these detailed proposals. More so than ever, the devil will be in the detail in judging whether these proposals are truly fair.

“We will closely scrutinise the proposals to ensure a transparent and evidence-based approach that fully recognises the needs of county areas, particularly in adult and children’s social care. It also remains to be seen whether the government has overcompensated for deprivation in distributing non-social care funding, where there is little evidence to show this is the main driver of council costs.

“Most worryingly for many of our councils, this consultation proposes a full council tax equalisation, and this could mean hundreds of millions of pounds of additional funding being redistributed from county areas. Despite being the single biggest redistributive measure contain in this consultation, the government have not fully justified the approach. If enacted this could reduce the incentive for councils to build vital homes and pose a real financial sustainability risk for some authorities without a fully funded and appropriate transitional period."