Local government finance settlement should save councils from savage cuts

Commenting on the Government’s announcement of funding for local councils, the MP for West Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Andrew George, said that both councils needed to conduct further analysis before they could judge whether the settlements would enable them to protect budgets and maintain services over the next four years. 

He said, “I guess we should be relieved. It looks like budgets have largely been protected; the devil, as ever, is in the detail. Overall, we’re in a better situation year-on-year, after a decade of austerity that the Conservatives subjected Cornwall to, from 2015. 

“Of course, we can all understand that Government supporting MPs will want to echo the most favourable interpretation fed to them after the figures have been carefully massaged by their Spin Doctors. 

“However, it must be remembered that Cornwall is the poorest region in the country and can therefore make the strongest case for enhanced central funding to reflect its high level of need. We also have an enormous gap to fill after a decade of cuts. 

“After taking account of 1. the current baseline year (rather than the previous one used by the Labour Government), 2. that this is a multi-year settlement, and 3. then reducing for the anticipated 5% council tax uplift, the actual settlement is around 4.5% increase from 2025/26–20 28/29. Not the 27% spun by Government supporters! 

“The local government Minister agreed to meet me when I raised questions about this in the chamber (see Hansard link below). This is especially in respect of the so-called “Bespoke” settlement for the Isles of Scilly. 

“The multi-year settlement is very welcome and will help both councils better plan for the medium term. But that doesn’t mean that they can avoid tough choices regarding the services they deliver and the pressure on their budgets. 

“It’s clear that nothing is clear. And won’t be for days. So there’s more work to do.” 

 

Link to Hansard debate: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2025-12-17/debates/E41ACAE8-ADB8-4BC2-986C-3324D7DC038A/LocalGovernmentFinance#contribution-C394F726-0837-4990-85E6-5FCAC0080A4E