Cheshire East Council is losing out to the tune of £55 million(£150 per head) per year.

 

'Cheshire East Council is losing out to the tune of £55 million( £150 per head) per year, due to unfair grant funding from the Government, ' says Willaston and Rope Ward Councillor Brian Silvester. He has supported a cross party group of MPs calling on the government to reconsider the impact its funding settlement will have on rural communities.

Cllr Silvester said," Urban councils already receive 50% more per head of population than rural areas. The funding gap between rural and urban councils will  be further widened by the Local Government Financial Settlement. This is grossly unfair, especially as services cost a lot more to deliver in rural authorities like Cheshire East. The Rural Services Network has calculated that rural residents pay more in council tax than urban residents yet government grants for urban areas are 50% higher per head of population. At the same time, rural residents earn less, on average, than people in cities. People in rural areas earn less, pay higher council tax and then receive substantially less support for services from the Government. Rural residents are not getting a fair return on the national taxes they pay and urban taxpayers are getting a much better deal. It is about time that the rural areas like Cheshire East got a fairer deal. Enough is enough. Urgent action is required. I hope the MPs will be successful in their campaign and our local MPs will support them."