Councils could be forced into 'savage cuts' after Michael Gove and government's inadequate financial settlement, says leader

English councils will receive £59.5bn as confirmed by the provisional local government finance settlement - a nine per cent increase from last year.

The new settlement will provide an additional £2bn to health and social care along with £100m for councils to protect the most vulnerable households from council tax rises.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said local government plays a 'vital role' in supporting the most vulnerable, and delivering key services.

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He said: ‘We recognise the pressures councils are facing right now and this spending boost will provide the support and funding local authorities need to continue delivering first-rate public services.’

However, Councillor Sean Woodward, leader of Fareham Borough Council said the majority of extra funding and the ability to increase council tax ‘is not directed at district councils’.

He said: ‘There is therefore nothing here that will reduce the pressure on Fareham Borough Council which has a revenue budget shortfall of £2.5m.

We expect to receive just £60,000 towards that from the government leaving the remainder to be found through savings and an increase in council tax.

‘As the increase in council tax is limited to around 1p per day per home that is not going to help us either.’

Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson, leader of Portsmouth City Council, said: 'Looking ahead to next year, we have extra costs estimated at £34m, because of the cost-of-living crisis and the legacy of Covid.

'The local government settlement looks to have increased funding from government by £9.3m. There's also an expectation that we will increase council tax by five per cent, to raise a further £5m. Taken together, this leaves us with a shortfall of almost £20m.

'The additional funding from government of £9.3m is mainly a recognition of increased costs and increased demand for services in adult and children's social care.

'Even with £2m from the adult social care precept, this still falls considerably short of our costs in these two areas, which is about £13m.'

Councillor Peter Chegwyn, leader of Gosport Borough Council said the government’s announcement is ‘bad news for Gosport’.

He said: ‘In Gosport's case, there will be a reduction in grant funding from the government next year of £29,800.

‘Gosport will only be allowed to raise the council tax by 2.99 per cent at a time when inflation is 11 per cent.

‘This will leave us with a budget deficit next year of over £500,000 due to inflationary pressures alone.

‘As leader of Gosport council I am determined to protect valued public services from funding cuts but it gets harder every year for councils like Gosport to balance the books.

‘If the government doesn't recognise the financial pressures facing local government then many councils that are less well-run than Gosport will be making savage cuts to public services next spring, something we will not be doing in Gosport.

‘We will protect Gosport's much-valued public services from Conservative spending cuts.'

Alex Rennie, leader of Havant Borough Council added: ‘The provisional financial settlement from the government recognises the pressures being faced by local authorities as they deal with inflationary pressures.

‘It is a welcome investment from the government and alongside our work this year to rebalance our budget, following our split from East Hampshire District Council, it means we are in a financial position that allows us to deliver against our political priorities.’