On December 19, Kevan raised his concerns about planned funding cuts for local authorities during a debate on the Local Government Finance Settlement.
The Government has published its funding plans for local councils, and it includes cutting the main government grant for local authorities, known as “settlement funding”, between 2017-18, the current financial year, and 2019-20.
Some local authorities, including Durham County Council, depend more on central government grants than others.
During the debate, Kevan pointed out the fall in Durham’s core spending, asking communities secretary, Sajid Javid:
“On the formula for transitional funding, what consideration is given to the percentage of core spending a council derives from revenue support grant? In Durham’s case it is 14.3%, whereas in Surrey’s it is 3.5%. That meant that last year core spending in Durham fell by 1.2%, whereas in Surrey the figure was 0.1%.”
Durham is set to receive the largest cut in settlement funding out of all the North East’s local authorities. The 2019-20 settlement for the county will be -22.1% lower than what it received in 2017-18.